The Brussels telethon against the coronavirus raised 7.4 billion euros

Text by: Pierre Benazet Follow

The global telethon to fight the Covid-19 makes it possible to garner pledges of 7.4 billion euros. This is the start of a fundraising campaign linked to the ACT initiative for access to tools against the coronavirus, a campaign which should last until June, with the search for a vaccine against SARS as a horizon. -CoV-2.

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From our correspondent in Brussels,

With this sum of seven billion euros plus four hundred million loan guarantees advanced by the European Commission, France and Germany, the objective of this donors' videoconference is almost reached to the nearest hundred million euros.

It is the first step towards global solidarity, underlines French President Emmanuel Macron: “  At the heart of this initiative, there is the decision that this vaccine, the day it is developed, will be a global public good. To ensure safe, equitable and universal access to those vital to the fight against the pandemic, we need the World Health Organization to respond to the emergency. "

A reference to the World Health Organization which is not trivial since this donor videoconference was announced the day after the withdrawal of American funding from the WHO.

And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not to be outdone: “  To support WHO's work on treatment and to help developing countries adapt, we must stand together. This is how we are going to get through and I know we are going to get through ...  ”

Of all the sums promised, half come from the EU, but for the UN secretary general, it will be necessary to go further because according to him, more than twenty billion euros will be necessary to develop and distribute a vaccine .

This fundraising is done without the United States which continues to go it alone and minimize, believing that this is only one operation among others.

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