(Former) world leaders want all of humanity to have free access to future vaccines against the coronavirus.
An open letter with that appeal was signed by some 140 prominent people, including former Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
“Governments and international partners must jointly issue a worldwide guarantee that as a safe and effective vaccine has been developed, it will be rapidly produced on a large scale and made available free of charge to all people in all countries,” the text said.
“The same applies to all treatments, diagnostics and other technologies related to Covid-19.”
Signatories include world leaders such as President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Imran Khan of Pakistan. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso have also linked their names to the initiative.
The letter stresses that saving lives should be a priority not the interests of large companies and the wealthiest countries.
The signatories ask the General Assembly of the World Health Organization for support. That body will meet next week. Delegations from the member states will then meet digitally due to the corona crisis.
A vaccine has not yet been developed against Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. We are working hard on this worldwide.