The World Health Organization (WHO) launched Friday, April 24, with the support of leaders of many countries, an initiative to accelerate the development of tests, treatments and vaccines to fight against the new coronavirus and to give widespread access to these products.

French President Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and even the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres participated in this videoconference marked by the absence of the United States and China.

President Donald Trump last week suspended the US contribution to the WHO budget by accusing the UN agency of "failing in its essential duties" in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, causing a concert of disapproval at the International scale.

For a fair distribution

"We face a common threat that we can only overcome with a common approach," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He also called for a fair distribution around the world of future tests, treatments of Covid-19 and vaccines against this virus. "Experience has taught us that even when the tools were available, they were not fairly accessible to everyone. We cannot let that happen."

A message also relayed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who considered it essential that access to safe and effective tools to fight the Covid-19 be fair rather than having to reserve "a vaccine or treatments for a country, a region, or just half the world. "

Vulnerable Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, stressed that the African continent was "extremely vulnerable to the ravages of this virus and needed help" to cope with its progression.

The European Union has declared its readiness to participate in this effort, in particular via the donors' conference which it is organizing on May 4 in conjunction with the WHO to finance research against this new coronavirus. The objective of this meeting will be to raise 7.5 billion euros, said the president of the European executive Ursula von der Leyen, stressing that it was only "a first step".

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As for French President Emmanuel Macron, he also stressed the need to present a united international front in the face of this global health crisis. "We will now continue to mobilize all the G7 and G20 countries to put themselves behind this initiative. I hope that we will be able to reconcile around this joint initiative and China and the United States of America, "he said.

Despite its absence, the United States assured that its determination to "stay at the forefront of international health initiatives" was "beyond doubt". "The suspension of American funding for WHO does not limit or redefine our involvement in favor of a strong and effective international commitment," said a spokesperson for the American delegation in Geneva.

More than 2.7 million people have already been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide and nearly 190,000 deaths are attributed to Covid-19, according to a count by Reuters.

With Reuters

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