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We must remember that global threats like COVID-19 demand a coordinated multilateral response. Image by Elf-Moondance from Pixabay.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n COVID-19 is an enemy that knows no borders. There will be no final victory until every person in every At a global level, huge advances in the battle against COVID-19 have been made. Producing highly As of 15 March, only 23.6 million vaccine doses had been distributed in Africa, sufficient for around <\/p>\n Global Pandemic. Image by cromaconceptovisual from Pixabay.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n If vaccine supply to Africa is not immediately upscaled, the continent\u2019s frontline health workers are We know that if the virus is not efficiently defeated everywhere, it will continue to spread and mutate. Ensuring equitable and balanced access to vaccines is not just a matter of justice, even less of charity. It is a matter of global security and thus of shared interest. Immediate and united efforts are needed to address this challenge. We must get vaccines to Africa faster, unlock additional financial resources for the countries that need then most, and build public health and vaccine manufacturing capacity in the longer-term.<\/p>\n A clear and secure country-by-country COVAX delivery schedule in Africa for the second quarter of the <\/p>\n We are all connected. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Specific additional financial resources must be secured to allow African governments to fill the vaccine The International Monetary Fund\u2019s plan to issue $650 billion of additional Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) is key and we salute Kristalina Georgieva\u2019s personal commitment to making this happen. We must now ensure that these additional resources benefit the countries and sectors that need them most critically. Financial support could also come through additional allocations of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from bilateral donors or from the World Bank via an anticipated International Development Association (IDA) replenishment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n African governments themselves must commit to specific efforts to mobilise their own resources, despite these being under increasing strain due to the crisis. For any government, ensuring the health of their own population is crucial. All citizens expect health as a public good to be delivered by their government. Finally, transparency and strong accountability mechanisms must accompany any additional financial resources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Clearly, the main bottleneck in tackling COVID-19 today is vaccine manufacturing capacity. While up to We commend Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala\u2019s leadership in convening WTO member countries and vaccine manufacturers to negotiate fairer manufacturing and distribution terms for developing countries. In all of this, a strong partnership with the African private sector, which has already demonstrated its resourcefulness and efficiency in producing tests and PPEs, will be paramount.<\/p>\n Tackling COVID-19 is not a one-shot, emergency issue. Evolving variations of COVID-19 and the <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Co-signed by the Board Members, Ibrahim Prize Committee and Prize Laureates of the Mo Ibrahim COVID-19 is an enemy that knows no borders. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[292,4,113],"tags":[606,607,92,608,374,609,100,610,611,612,613,614,615,616,617,618,619,620,621,622,623,624,625,626,627,628,629,630,631],"class_list":["post-4516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-featured","category-nutrition-highlight","tag-abdoulie-janneh","tag-aicha-bah-diallo","tag-covid-19","tag-donald-kaberuka","tag-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala","tag-global-security","tag-graca-machel","tag-h-e-ellen-johnson-sirleaf","tag-h-e-festus-gontebanye-mogae","tag-h-e-hifikepunye-pohamba","tag-h-e-horst-kohler","tag-h-e-joaquim-alberto-chissano","tag-h-e-mahamadou-issoufou","tag-h-e-mary-robinson","tag-h-e-pedro-de-verona-rodrigues-pires","tag-hadeel-ibrahim","tag-hosh-ibrahim","tag-jay-naidoo","tag-jendayi-frazer","tag-jin-yong-cai","tag-mo-ibrahim","tag-mohamed-elbaradei","tag-nathalie-delapalme","tag-ngaire-woods","tag-pascal-lamy","tag-vaccines-for-africa","tag-valerie-amos","tag-world-health-day","tag-zeinab-badawi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ncountry is protected. With a population of over 1.3 billion, Africa is one of the most unprotected and
\nvulnerable regions. It would be a fatal mistake to consider that the pandemic there is less severe, and thus
\n\u201cAfrica can wait\u201d. The latest data indicates that 4.28 million cases have been recorded on the continent,
\nrepresenting a 9% rise in just one month, though even this could be a significant underestimate of the true
\nnumber. At 2.7%, the case fatality rate in Africa is now higher than the global rate of 2.2%.<\/p>\n
\neffective vaccines in less than a year and setting up collective distribution systems, such as COVAX, are
\nheroic achievements that must be saluted. But we are still running far behind what is needed to ensure
\nsafety in Africa. Across the continent, vaccine accessibility is not only far below the efficacy threshold of
\n60% of the population but significantly lower than the 20% promised by COVAX.<\/p>\n
\n1.7% of the continent\u2019s population. This is barely 0.5% of current global vaccine distribution, while the
\ncontinent represents more than 17% of the global population. COVAX itself has provided 16 million doses to 28 African countries, leaving 16 countries to resort to donations and bilateral agreements. 10 countries remain totally outside any supply system.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/virus-4999857_640-400x283.png\")
\nlikely to be overwhelmed. Currently, they are bearing the brunt of the pandemic, accounting for 3.5%
\nof COVID-19 cases in Africa. In this unfolding scenario, alongside the human tragedy, Africa might well
\nbecome a perfect incubator for variants.<\/p>\n
\nyear is vital. We need to know in advance where there are gaps, so that they can be addressed as swiftly
\nas possible. An immediate solution to the current vaccine gap would be for wealthier countries to share a part of
\ntheir vaccine supplies with less advanced countries. Simply giving away surpluses is far from enough. We
\nwelcome President Macron\u2019s call for Europe and the US to urgently send 5% of their vaccine supplies
\nto developing nations. To date, generous commitments, even regarding potentially wasted surpluses,
\nremain to be implemented.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/test.gbstudio.co.za\/gmt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/network-3139201_640-400x266.jpg\")
\ngap through non-COVAX channelled resources and to strengthen their capacities in storage, transport,
\ndistribution and administration. Shortfalls in these areas limit access to the COVAX facility and will
\nundermine the success of the vaccination drive.<\/p>\n
\n14 billion COVID-19 vaccines might be needed globally, the current global manufacturing capacity is
\nonly 3 to 5 billion. In response to the current crisis and looking ahead to future pandemics, Africa must
\nstrengthen and upscale its own vaccine manufacturing capacities, with support from its partners. Much
\ncan be done here, ranging from immediately linking global manufacturers with local companies who
\nhave fill-and-finish capacities, to boosting investments, reducing intellectual property barriers, promoting
\ntechnology transfers, and sharing data and expertise.<\/p>\n
\nemergence of Disease-X are bound to happen. We are all witness to how the current virus has shifted
\nor even destroyed social and economic balances right around the world. Making sure Africa is able to
\nmanage the current crisis while also preparing for the future is an urgent matter of global security.
\nThese priority areas, as well new research from the Foundation on \u2018Africa and COVID-19: one year on\u2019,
\nwill be at the centre of discussions at the Ibrahim Forum during the upcoming Ibrahim Governance
\nWeekend, taking place for the first time in a virtual format on 3-5 June 2021.<\/p>\n
\nFoundation:
\nValerie Amos | Zeinab Badawi | Jin-Yong Cai | H.E. Joaquim Alberto Chissano | Nathalie Delapalme |
\nA\u00efcha Bah Diallo | Mohamed ElBaradei | Jendayi Frazer | Hadeel Ibrahim | Hosh Ibrahim | Mo Ibrahim |
\nH.E. Mahamadou Issoufou | Abdoulie Janneh | Donald Kaberuka | H.E. Horst K\u00f6hler | Pascal Lamy |
\nGra\u00e7a Machel | H.E. Festus Gontebanye Mogae | Jay Naidoo | H.E. Pedro De Verona Rodrigues Pires |
\nH.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba | H.E. Mary Robinson | H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Ngaire Woods<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"