A global coronavirus telethon organized in Brussels

Text by: Pierre Benazet Follow

The covid-19 vaccine telethon: a global donor conference sponsored by the EU, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. As with a telethon, the European Commission has set up a web page where internet users can follow the amount promised by states, charities and private donors at all times.

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From our correspondent in Brussels,

This donors' videoconference is the most visible manifestation of an initiative called ACT, for access to the tools to fight against Covid-19 (Access to Covid-19 Tools), a platform launched among others by the World Organization for health or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

International cooperation and solidarity are the watchwords of this day of May 4 where all are invited to commit financially with a bar set at 7.5 billion euros.

Diagnostics, therapeutic means and vaccines thus financed by international donations must be able to be produced in unprecedented quantities and must be able to be accessible at affordable prices.

The World Health Organization lost a fifth of its budget when the United States withdrew its financial contribution on April 14. The next day, the President of the European Commission refused to make a link with this American decision when she announced this videoconference of donors.

The fact remains that WHO also needed the diplomatic relay that the European Union and influential states can provide in order to motivate international donors on Monday and make this day a financial success.

► The telethon page set up by the European Commission

All day this Monday, May 4, donors are expected by videoconference to announce their expected contributions to finance research in the face of the coronavirus pandemic with a vaccine hoped in twelve to eighteen months for the whole planet.

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