The European Union and its partners will host an international pledging conference on May 4 to raise $8 billion to kick-start global cooperation on effective diagnostics, treatments and a vaccine for Covid-19.
European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg issued a joint appeal on Sunday for contributions to the Coronavirus global response.
Saudi Arabia, the current president of the G20, on Sunday pledged $500 million to support the fundraising efforts and said it will co-lead the global response.
“The pledging event aims to raise funds for the immediate need of $8 billion, which the Global Preparedness and Monitoring Board stated is urgently required to develop and deliver a Covid-19 vaccine, along with diagnostics and therapeutic resources,” said a statement from the Saudi government.
People familiar with developments said the Indian government is yet to take a call in participating in the drive.
The European leaders said in a statement that they intended to raise the initial $8 billion to make up a global funding shortfall estimated by the Global Preparedness and Monitoring Board and others.
{{/usCountry}}The European leaders said in a statement that they intended to raise the initial $8 billion to make up a global funding shortfall estimated by the Global Preparedness and Monitoring Board and others.
{{/usCountry}}“The funds that we raise will kick-start an unprecedented global cooperation between scientists and regulators, industry and governments, international organisations, foundations and healthcare professionals,” the statement said.
All the funds will be channelled through recognised global health organisations such as CEPI, Gavi, Vaccines Alliance, Global Fund and Unitaid to develop and deploy as “quickly as possible, for as many as possible, the diagnostics, treatments and vaccines that will help the world overcome the pandemic”, it added.
The European leaders said they will also support the World Health Organization and join forces with entities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust for developing diagnostics and treatment.
“While some are cautiously emerging from lockdown, others are still in isolation and see their daily social and economic lives severely restricted. Consequences could be particularly dramatic in Africa and the Global South as a whole,” the statement said.
“But what we all have in common is that none of us can really think or plan ahead with any great certainty about what the future of the pandemic really holds,” it said, emphasising the need for joint efforts against the pandemic.
The European leaders said they were building on the commitment by G20 leaders to develop a “massive and coordinated response to the virus” and had launched the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator, a global platform to scale-up research, development, access and equitable distribution of a vaccine and other life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics treatments.