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Business News/ News / India/  WHO to launch declaration on vaccine equity
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WHO to launch declaration on vaccine equity

Global public health agency seeks nearly $2 billion for covid-19 response
  • India expected to play key role in vaccine equity
  • FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo (REUTERS)Premium
    FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo (REUTERS)

    The World Health Organization (WHO) is all set to launch on Friday a fresh declaration focused on vaccine equity against the backdrop of the need to scale up the manufacturing of covid-19 vaccines, in which India is expected to play a crucial role.

    The apex global public health agency has said that it will urge vaccine manufacturers across the globe to share knowhow with the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) to increase the global supply of vaccines. The C-TAP was launched by WHO in partnership with the government of Costa Rica and 40 member state co-sponsors with the Solidarity Call to Action. It urged the global community to voluntarily share knowledge, intellectual property, and data necessary to tackle covid-19.

    Also Read | Turnout modest for second covid shot

    The original was co-developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca plc.

    Serum Institute plans to supply 240 million doses for Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others. Of this, 97.16 million is expected to be given to India, while nearly 13 million will go to Bangladesh, according to the interim distribution forecast of the Covax facility.

    The Pune-based Serum Institute is expected to begin supplies later this month, with 35-40% of 240 million doses scheduled to be delivered by March end and the rest by June. WHO had listed Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s co-developed mRNA vaccine for emergency use on 31 December 2020.

    “The declaration calls for action from several groups such as political leaders, manufacturers, and governments. It calls for an increase in contributions to the COVAX facility and to share doses with COVAX, in parallel with their own national vaccine rollout, increasing supply of vaccines and ensuring equitable access," said WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom.

    WHO has also sought nearly $2 billion to fund for 2021 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for covid-19 launched on Thursday in Geneva. “The new plan builds on last year’s SPRP, with six objectives, suppress transmission, reduce exposure, counter misinformation and disinformation, protect the vulnerable, reduce death and illness, and accelerate equitable access to new tools, including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics," he said.

    “The financial need to meet these objectives is $1.96 billion, including $1.2 billion for the WHO component of the ACT Accelerator," he said. SPRP also recognizes the need to fully integrate the covid-19 response into planning for health and development programmes.

    The WHO chief said the first SPRP raised $1.58 million. “Some 90% of the funding was allocated to countries and regions, supporting those on the frontlines of the pandemic," he said. It also enabled WHO and its partners to ship millions of tests and items of personal protective equipment, and to support thousands of ICU beds around the world", he said.

    The funding was also used to deploy 191 emergency nedical teams, support sero-epidemiological studies in 58 countries, and provide online training that reached nearly five million people.

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    Published: 19 Feb 2021, 01:38 PM IST
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