The Paris Peace Forum is expected to raise about 500m dollars to ensure a fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines, its organisers have said.
Thus, France has already announced its intention to allocate 100m euros, Spain has promised to provide another 50m euros and the European Commission has pledged 100m euros. The UK is expected to contribute one pound for every four dollars pledged by other contributors. Donations will also be made by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"We are talking about the greatest healthcare effort in history. Overcoming the current pandemic will not be cheap for the world," said Melinda Gates.
It is primarily about funding the WHO-based ACT-Accelerator). This initiative aims to provide global testing, access to treatment and vaccines.
According to WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, if the population of poor countries cannot be vaccinated, "the Covid-19 virus will continue to spread and the recovery of the world economy will be delayed".
According to UN estimates in September, the ACT-Accelerator received only about 3bn dollars of the 38bn dollars needed to meet the goal of producing and delivering 2 billion doses of vaccine, 245 million drugs and 500 million diagnostic tests over the next year.
During the Forum, Ghebreyesus noted that there was a "funding shortfall" of 28.5bn dollars and that 4.5bn dollars was urgently needed to "maintain the momentum" of the Covid-19 response.
Speaking at the Paris Peace Forum yesterday, its initiator President of France Emmanuel Macron called on the world community to reach a new consensus. The French leader believes that without a new vision it will not be possible to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying economic and social challenges.