Coronavirus Global Response raises €7.4 billion in pledges

€7.4 billion was raised at the Coronavirus Global Response pledging event on 4 May to kick-start an unprecedented global cooperation between scientists and regulators, industry and governments, international organisations, foundations and health care professionals to ensure the collaborative development and universal deployment of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines against coronavirus.
The pledging event was co-convened by the European Union, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. It builds on the commitment made by G20 leaders on 26 March and follows a call by the WHO on 24 April for a global collaboration for the accelerated development, production and equitable global access to new coronavirus essential health technologies.
Commenting on the success of the event, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “The world showed extraordinary unity for the common good. Governments and global health organisations joined forces against coronavirus. With such commitment, we are on track for developing, producing and deploying a vaccine for all. However, this is only the beginning. We need to sustain the effort and to stand ready to contribute more. The pledging marathon will continue. After governments, civil society and people worldwide need to join in, in a global mobilisation of hope and resolve.”
The funds raised will be channelled primarily through recognised global health organisations such as CEPI, Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance, as well as the Global Fund and Unitaid into developing and deploying as quickly as possible, for as many as possible, the diagnostics, treatments and vaccines that will help the world overcome the pandemic.
The Coronavirus Global Response Initiative is comprised of three partnerships for testing, treating and preventing underpinned by health systems strengthening. The three partnerships will work as autonomously as possible, with a transversal work stream on enhancing the capacity of health systems and knowledge and data sharing.
The European Commission will register and keep track of pledges up until end of May but will not receive any payments into its accounts. Funds go directly to the recipients. Recipients will, however, not decide alone on the use of the donation, but deploy it in concert with the partnership. The commitment is for all new vaccines, diagnostics and treatments against coronavirus to be made available globally for an affordable price, regardless of where they were developed.
The Global Vaccines Summit that Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will organise on 4 June will mobilise additional funding to protect the next generation with vaccines. As the world relies on Gavi’s work for making vaccination available everywhere, the success of Gavi’s replenishment will be crucial to the success of the Coronavirus Global Response.
In an Op-ed ahead of the pledging event, co-authored by Giuseppe Conte, President of the Government of the Italian Republic, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, they said: “None of us is immune to the pandemic and none of us can beat the virus alone. In fact, we will not truly be safe until all of us are safe – across every village, city, region and country in the world. In our interconnected world, the global health system is as strong as its weakest part. We will need to protect each other to protect ourselves.
“This poses a unique and truly global challenge. And it makes it imperative that we give ourselves the best chance to defeat it. This means bringing together the world’s best – and most prepared – minds to find the vaccines, treatments and therapies we need to make our world healthy again
“This is our generation’s duty and we know we can make this happen. High quality and low-cost health technologies are not a daydream. And we have seen how public-private partnerships have managed to make many life-saving vaccines available to the poorest people on earth over the last two decades.
“This is a defining moment for the global community. By rallying around science and solidarity today we will sow the seeds for greater unity tomorrow. Guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, we can redesign the power of community, society and global collaboration, to make sure that nobody is left behind.”
Coronavirus Global Response https://global-response.europa.eu