The letter demands that all vaccines, treatments and tests be made patent-free, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge
TIRANA – Current and former world leaders, economists and public health advocates have signed an open letter urging the governments of all countries to make a free COVID-19 vaccine available to all people, reported the portal The Wire on Friday.
The letter, coordinated by UNAID and Oxfam, bears the signatures of 140 eminent people including President of South Africa and Chair of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall and the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
It demands that all vaccines, treatments and tests be made patent-free, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.
UNAID, in its press release, has called the letter the most ambitious position yet set out by world leaders on a COVID-19 vaccine.
|”We are calling on Health Ministers at the World Health Assembly to rally behind a people’s vaccine against this disease urgently. Governments and international partners must unite around a global guarantee which ensures that, when a safe and effective vaccine is developed, it is produced rapidly at scale and made available for all people, in all countries, free of charge. The same applies for all treatments, diagnostics, and other technologies for COVID-19,” said the letter which was also signed by presidents of Albania, Rexhep Meidani (1997-2002) and Bujar Nishani (2012-2017)./ argumentum.al
