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We are ready to triple our efforts" in donating vaccine doses. "By the end of the year we will donate 45 million doses" to the poorest countries.
Prime Minister Mario
Draghi said this when
speaking at the 'Global Covid-19 Summit', on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. On the occasion of the Global Health Summit in Rome Draghi had announced the donation by Italy of 15 million doses. "We have made great progress" in the distribution of vaccines through the Covax program but "there are still great inequalities" and for this "we must be ready to be more generous", underlines the premier.
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Global cooperation is essential to allow this pandemic emergency to end and to prevent health emergencies
", adds the premier. "In the world 2.5 billion people are vaccinated and one billion are partially vaccinated (with one dose, ed)", the head of the government recalls.
"One of the weaknesses in the global response to the pandemic has been insufficient coordination between health and financial authorities.
As the G20 presidency we want to establish the 'Global Health and Finance Board"
which "will enhance global cooperation in governance and funding for response and prevention to pandemics ", also affirms Draghi speaking at the 'Global COVID-19 Summit'. The Board "will support collaboration between the G20 and the WHO, the World Bank and other international organizations. We welcome the American proposal for an intermediary financial fund," he adds. " Let me once again thank President Biden for his leadership in promoting this event - he continues - Certainly the G20 in Rome will start from today's results ".
"Multilateral mechanisms, such as the Accelerator Act and Covax, remain the most effective tools to ensure effective distribution of vaccines and to create the necessary capacity to administer them - explains the premier - We must also offer adequate logistical support to ensure that vaccines reach those who need them most. Because, as production capacity increases, the main challenge will be how to transport vaccines, not how to produce them. "
"Health is a global public good and must be preserved everywhere", says the premier, adding that "the Global Health Summit, held last May in Rome, is a good example of what effective multilateralism can produce. Countries and pharmaceutical companies have promised doses of vaccines and funding for vulnerable countries. And in the Rome Declaration we pledged to abide by a set of common principles to be better prepared to face the next health threat ".
