BackG-20 set to pledge to ensure fair distribution of covid-19 vaccines
On medicines and vaccines, the Group of 20 will vow to “spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people
PremiumLeaders of the world’s biggest economies on Sunday will dedicate themselves to financing equal access to Covid-19 testing, treatments and vaccines, and will encourage bondholders to provide private relief to poor countries, according to a draft of their statement.
On medicines and vaccines, the Group of 20 will vow to “spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members’ commitments to incentivize innovation," according to the draft obtained by Bloomberg News. “We recognize the role of extensive immunization as a global public good."
The leaders will acknowledge a lack of participation by private creditors in the G-20 debt relief plan, known as the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, and will “strongly encourage" them to participate on comparable terms to official bilateral creditors, according to the draft. It also plans to encourage multilateral development banks to do more to support the initiative, which last month was extended through June. Reuters earlier reported the G-20 plans.
Governments will recognize that debt treatments beyond the initiative may be required on a case-by-case basis given the scale of the crisis, citing the “significant debt vulnerabilities and deteriorating outlook" in many low-income countries. The G-20 will endorse the Common Framework for debt treatments beyond the plan, according to the draft.
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