 "Global public health leaders urge G20 to ensure Covid vaccine equity")
Public health leaders from across the world, including two of Indian-origin, have teamed up to urge the G20 to take an immediate action on global COVID-19 vaccine equity, saying only 10 per cent of the population in low-income countries have received one dose of vaccine as compared to nearly 80 per cent in high-income countries.
Terming the efforts to date as too little, too late, the 11 public health leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Spain, the UK, the US and Uruguay, in a joint letter to the leaders of the G20 grouping, pointed out that despite numerous calls for global vaccine equity, they have not seen enough collective action to improve vaccine access in the Global South.
They said that in their roles at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic response, they are acutely aware of how local progress in mitigating COVID-19 infections can quickly be undone in the face of ongoing global spread.
We, as public health leaders of the local and regional governments, stand together in calling for the G20 to take immediate action on global COVID-19 vaccine equity, the public health leaders said in their letter, a copy of which was published as a full-page advertisement in a leading Indian newspaper,
We represent the health authorities of major cities the most interconnected parts of our world.
We also represent the cooperation necessary to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, standing in solidarity as public health experts seeking to prevent unnecessary suffering and death from this pandemic, across all countries, they said.
The G20 is a strategic multilateral platform connecting the world's major developed and emerging economies like India.
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The appeal was made by Fernan Quirs from health ministry, Buenos Aires; Edson Aparecido dos Santos, Municipal Secretary of Health, So Paulo; Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health; Dr Cory Neudorf, Interim Senior Medical Health Officer, Saskatchewan Health Authority, President, Urban Public Health Network, Canada.
Others include Carlos Mario Marin, Mayor, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia; Eve Plenel, Head of the Public Health Department, Paris; Dr Antonio Zapatero-Gaviria, Head of PLAN COVID, Madrid; Dr Tom Coffey, Mayor's Health Advisor, London; Indian-origin Dave A Chokshi, 43rd Commissioner, New York City; Indian-origin Ashwin Vasan, 44th Commissioner, New York City and Dr Virginia Cardozo, Director of Health Division, Montevideo, Uruguay.
They observed that greater scale and speed are needed to prevent significant inequitable mortality, emergence of additional variants and ongoing COVID-19 surges.
As of last month, only 10 per cent of the population in low-income countries have received one dose of vaccine, compared to nearly 80 per cent in high income countries.
These are the very inequities that led to the emergence of the delta and omicron variants, they said.
It is within the power of the G20 to take urgent, specific actions to prevent further suffering and death in our interconnected countries, they said.
They called on the G20 to immediately schedule an emergency meeting of all members plus representation from the United Nations and the World Health Organisation to establish a plan to achieve some key points which include an increase access to accurate information about vaccination and prevent the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines by holding social media/tech companies and anti-vaccination groups accountable for the spread of misinformation.
Prioritising partnerships with trusted community groups to build vaccine confidence, support navigation to vaccination sites and counter misinformation, investing in national and global public health messaging efforts to encourage vaccination, the public health leaders said.
They also called for increasing equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines by ensuring that countries in the Global South have appropriate vaccine infrastructure, particularly around cold chain maintenance and that donations do not create an unfair burden based on expiration dates.
Adjusting G20 country vaccine donations to COVAX based on demand in recipient countries, committing to producing at least 15 billion mRNA doses in the next six months, including investing in manufacturing capacity in the Global South, they said, besides asking them to follow through on previous commitments to share intellectual property and expertise to enable more Global South countries to manufacture vaccines at home.
They also called for publicly voicing support for the World Trade Organisation Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver.
The nations of the G20 can change the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic while building global resilience and global solidarity.
The health of each country impacts the health of all countries the time to act is now, they added.
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