The goals are ambitious. A virtual global summit is due to take place on May 12, with the aim of ending the Covid-19 pandemic and preparing for future health threats.
The meeting, announced by the White House this Monday, April 18, will be co-chaired by the United States, Germany (currently at the head of the G7), Indonesia (which leads the G20), Senegal (for the African Union) and Belize (for Caricom, the Caribbean Community).
It will be a question of “redouble our collective efforts”, indicated these countries in a joint press release published by Washington and relayed by AFP.
This global summit will be the second on the coronavirus pandemic since it began to spread in December 2019. It has killed more than six million people worldwide and disrupted the global economy. US President Joe Biden had organized a similar one on September 22, 2021. He notably pleaded for a strengthening of vaccination in the world.
A less virulent but still present Covid-19
Today, although the mortality rate due to Covid has decreased significantly around the world, the spread of the virus, and particularly its Omicron variant, is preventing several countries from lifting restrictions. In China, for example, millions of people are still confined.
The US government and those of the countries involved in this summit also want to maintain the sense of urgency in the face of the epidemic. “Ahead of the May 12 summit we call on world leaders, members of civil society, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to make new commitments and deliver solutions to immunize the world’s population, save lives now. and build better health security everywhere in the world”, adds the joint press release.
“The emergence and spread of new variants has reinforced the need for a strategy to control Covid-19,” he added.
Avoid further health crises
The countries behind the summit believe that it is essential to do everything to prevent new health disasters from taking the world by surprise. “We know that we must prepare now to build, stabilize and finance the global capacity that we need, not only in the face of variants of Covid-19, but also in the face of other health crises”, they warn.
Covid-19 disease is far from endemic and can still cause “large epidemics”, World Health Organization officials said on Thursday.
