WHO calls for US $ 23.4 billion to “prevent another five million deaths from COVID”

The World Health Organization (WHO) asked the international community to contribute US $ 23.4 billion to its program to distribute vaccines and other tools against the COVID-19, a game with which, he affirmed, the death of up to five million people can be avoided.

That funding, which the WHO estimates its ACT Accelerator (acronym for “Access to Tools against COVID”) needs over the next 12 months may also save the world some US $ 5.3 trillion in losses due to the health crisis, as well as “Accelerate the end of the pandemic,” he said in a statement.

The pandemic has so far caused 4.9 million deaths on the planet, although the WHO warns that the figure could double to 10 million next year if the unequal distribution of vaccines and other weapons against COVID-19 persists.

With the money requested, the ACT Accelerator pursues the objective of increasing the distribution of vaccines in its Covax program, but also facilitating the availability of diagnostic tests, treatments and protective equipment, especially in developing countries.

The WHO recalls that for now only 0.5% of vaccines and 0.4% of tests have been distributed in low-income countries, whose population represents 9% of the world total.

“To end the pandemic, governments, manufacturers and donors must fully fund the ACT Accelerator, and thus reduce inequalities in access to vaccines, tests and treatments against COVID-19,” underlined the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The US $ 23.4 billion required is, according to the WHO, little compared to the trillions of dollars of losses that the world is estimated to have suffered due to the pandemic.

With the budgeted funds, the ACT Accelerator hopes to support vaccination programs in 91 developing countries in order to achieve the global goal of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population by the middle of next year.

It also seeks that 120 million patients in low- and middle-income countries have access to treatments, including those that require oxygen, and that 2.7 million health workers in those economies have the necessary personal protective equipment.

Since its inception last year, the ACT Accelerator has distributed more than 425 million vaccines in 144 countries through the Covax program, as well as 128 million diagnostic tests.