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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund announced on Friday that they will provide 150 million US dollars (approximately 2.2 billion rand) in financial guarantees to help the latter provide low- and middle-income people Purchase vaccines and other health-related supplies. -Income country.
The announcement comes as people have been worried about the slow rollout of vaccines in poorer countries.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (Covax), led by the World Health Organization and with UNICEF as the procurement coordinator, aims to help equal access. But it faces challenges in funding and distribution.
Covax has been committed to solving supply and procurement barriers. However, by the end of October, Only five African countries are expected to achieve the year-end goal of vaccinating 40% of the populationIn total, only 6% were vaccinated.
In contrast, nearly three-quarters of rich countries have vaccinated 40% or more of their population.
UNICEF, SIDA, and Bill and Melinda Gates said in a joint statement on Friday that the four-year commitment will help UNICEF purchase Covid-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, and reduce the impact of the pandemic. Interference with routine immunization.
The financing will continue until 2025.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funded by a US$2.5 billion strategic investment fund that provided UNICEF with the first US$15 million guarantee in 2015 to prevent vaccine shortages in Nigeria . Since then, it has expanded its commitments.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it increased the guarantee to $65 million in 2020.
The statement said: “Many low- and middle-income countries rely on UNICEF’s procurement services to ensure access to a wide range of affordable basic hygiene products as part of their emergency response and meeting daily needs.”
“As the Covid-19 pandemic puts decades of efforts to improve child survival at risk, this new financing will help increase the availability of basic and often life-saving hygiene products such as diagnostics, syringes and oxygen concentrators. Continuous and reliable supply.” It did not specify which countries would be prioritized.
UNICEF Previously announced a pooled fund aimed at ensuring fair access to Covid-19 medical suppliesIncluding vaccines, since April 2020, the company’s goal is to secure US$1 billion for immunization and US$1 billion for test supplies.
The organization stated that the organization has accelerated the procurement and delivery of $900 million worth of supplies through financial guarantees, including 840 million doses of vaccines provided to more than 100 countries.
SIDA is Sweden’s government development cooperation agency. Its head of international organization and policy support, Cecilia Scharp, pointed out that the health systems of low- and middle-income countries have been hit harder by the pandemic, and supporting them is essential to limit the global impact of Covid-19 .
It has substantially expanded its financing capabilities in 2020 to support the procurement of Covid-19 products and other necessities.
