South Africa pledges $1.2-million towards global hunt for Covid-19 vaccine and treatment

South Africa pledged $1.2-million (about R22-million) towards global research and development for vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics initiative in the fight against the Covid-19 (coronavirus).

On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa was part of 40 heads of state who joined forces in a virtual pledging conference supporting the Covid-19 global response international pledging event.

African Union and European Union members were part of the pledging conference convened by the Global Preparedness Monitoring board.

Ramaphosa said Covid-19 was a health emergency that has affected most global nations, but developing countries were particularly vulnerable to its impact.

He said the fight against Covid-19 needed coordinated and consistent international action for all countries to be sufficiently equipped to fight against the virus.

“We call on all countries to make tangible commitments to bolster the global effort, but in particular to support countries that bear the brunt of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.

“Africa has responded to the coronavirus pandemic with urgency and purpose.

“The African Union has established a Covid-19 response fund to direct resources towards the continent’s response. To date, a total of $61-million (about R1.15-billion) has been committed to the fund and to support the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In addition to the investments we have made to these and other research initiatives, South Africa is committing an amount of $1.3 million (about R24-million) at this historic pledging conference,” he said.

On home-ground, he said, African countries are supporting each other through regional coronavirus task forces to oversee screening, detection and diagnosis, infection prevention and control.

“South Africa is making significant investments in science and innovation to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, and is participating in several research initiatives with partners across the world and to support African researchers.”

He said the doors of South Africa’s Biovac Institute facilities were open to support the global effort to develop, manufacture and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine.

“Now, more than ever, the world needs solidarity and cooperation to mobilise and guide investments, and drive delivery towards equitable access for new Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

“Working together, we shall overcome this pandemic.”

The pledges made at the conference amounted to €7.4-billion, money which is set to be given to different global health institutions to support its global fight against Covid-19, including the World Health Organisation.