WHO asked for $ 8 billion to stop tidal wave of coronavirus variants

The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched an “emergency” Request for 7.7 billion dollars to stem the “surge” dangerous variants of the coronavirus which are wreaking havoc in most countries and reiterated its cry so that the tragic situation does not always harm the poorest.

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that “if these funds are not available now to stop the transmission of the Delta variant in the most vulnerable countries, there is no doubt that we will all pay the consequences later. “

“Many countries are experiencing new waves of infections, and while high income countries and some upper middle income countries have implemented immunization Widespread with more robust testing systems and making treatments more and more available, many low and lower middle incomes find it difficult to access these vital tools due to lack of funds and supplies, ”the WHO.

Among its proposals, the UN body stressed that “$ 2.4 billion would be allocated to put all low and lower middle income countries on the path to a tenfold increase in Covid-19 tests and ensure that all countries reach satisfactory levels ”of testing.

“This will dramatically improve the local and global understanding of the evolution of the epidemiology of the disease and emerging variants of concern, inform the appropriate application of social and public health measures and break the chains of transmission,” he said. he declares.

Approximately $ 1 billion would be spent on market training and manufacturing, technical assistance and demand generation to ensure that tests, treatments and vaccines remain effective against the most contagious Delta variant of all, others emerging and accessible to all.

An additional $ 1.2 billion would be provided to “quickly meet the oxygen needs to treat the seriously ill and control the exponential increase in deaths caused” by this strain originating in India, added the WHO, as quoted by the press agency Europe. A total of $ 1.4 billion would be used to help countries identify and overcome key bottlenecks for the effective deployment and use of all Covid-19 tools.

And finally some 1.7 billion dollars to equip two million essential health workers with enough basic personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety while treating the sick, preventing the collapse of health systems. where health workers are already understaffed and overloaded.
“$ 7.7 billion is urgently needed to fund the work of the ACT-Accelerator to cope with the rise of the Delta variant and put the world on track to end the pandemic,” a- he urged. This investment, he said, represents a tiny fraction of the amount that governments spend to fight the scourge “and that makes sense from an ethical, economic and epidemiological point of view.”