Pooling resources to overcome the coronavirus pandemic should be a priority of all countries, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
The South African leader said this when he made a virtual address in support of the Global Citizen’s “Recover Better Together” post-Covid-19 campaign launch.
The Australia-based Global Citizen is an international education and advocacy organisation working to boost the movement to end extreme poverty by 2030.
The president commended Global Citizen for acting swiftly when the coronavirus pandemic struck last year by hosting the “One World: Together At Home” benefit concert in support of the healthcare workers on the frontline of the battle against the disease.
“The substantial pledges made for coronavirus relief at that event enabled NGOs around the world to help the most vulnerable in many countries,” he said.
He added that this year’s “Recover Better Together” campaign recognised that overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic was essential to making progress in tackling poverty.
“To achieve this, we must deepen cooperation to ensure equitable access to vaccines. To fight the pandemic, we need to pool resources, capabilities, knowledge and intellectual property,” Ramaphosa said.
He noted that no person, country or region should be left behind in the fight against Covid-19.
“That is why we continue to call on world leaders to support the COVAX facility (under the World Health Organisation) to ensure rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries,” he said.
Ramaphosa said another important step was to enable the transfer of medical technology for the duration of the pandemic.
“This will allow us to increase the production of Covid-19 vaccines and other medical products, lower prices and improve distribution to reach all corners of the world,” the president said.
NM/jn/APA