The G7 health ministers called today for the creation of a mechanism that allows for a faster and fairer distribution of vaccines and medicines, due to the problems that developing countries suffered during the pandemic.
Lessons learned from the coronavirus health crisis were one of the central themes of the two-day meeting of health ministers of the Group of Seven held in the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
During the meeting, the failure of a supposed rapid development of vaccines at the beginning of the pandemic was highlighted, as well as the difficulties of administration, which affected lower-income countries and which were affected by low vaccination rates.
Faced with a possible new pandemic, the ministers stressed the need to improve the process of global distribution of medicines and vaccines, with a view to “creating a system in which everyone can be vaccinated and in which vaccines can be obtained equitably,” according to a joint statement adopted at the end of the meeting.
“We agreed to build a mechanism that promotes access to these medicines and now each country must take the initiative to work in that direction. We would like it to be the basis for advancing international cooperation,” said the Japanese Health Minister. , Katsunobu Kato, who chaired the meeting.
The final text also aims to ensure that information on new medicines is distributed fairly, quickly and widely.
Along the same lines, the G7 ministers are committed to “effective use” of the new financial instrument launched last year by the World Bank to finance the response to contagious diseases.
In the joint declaration, however, they underline the fundamental role that national health systems have played during the pandemic and set the goal of achieving “universal health coverage” that offers quality health care to all citizens by 2030.
The Nagasaki meeting served to “set the course of collaboration towards a healthier future” and to prepare the discussions on health that the G7 leaders will develop at the summit scheduled from 19 to 21, in Hiroshima, said the Japanese minister. in a press conference.
Source: TSF
