Health crisis: US announces world summit for Covid-19
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A global covid-19 summit will be held on May 12. This meeting, which will be held virtually, will be co-chaired by the United States, Germany, currently at the head of the G7, Indonesia, at the head of the G20, Senegal, at the head of the African Union, and Belize.
"The summit will redouble our collective efforts to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 epidemic and prepare for future health-related threats," the countries said in a joint statement released by Washington. It will be the second global summit on the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than six million people worldwide and disrupted the global economy, since it began to spread in December 2019.
US President Joe Biden held a similar summit on September 22, 2021, where he advocated for stricter vaccinations around the world. And today, although the death rate from Covid has decreased significantly around the world, the spread of the virus, particularly its Omicron variant, is preventing several countries from lifting restrictions, starting with China, where millions of people are still confined.
Maintain a sense of urgency.
The US government, and that of the countries involved in this summit, also want to maintain a 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 solutions to immunize the world's population, save lives now and build better health security everywhere in the world," adds this joint press release.
"The appearance and spread of new variants, such as Omicron, has reinforced the need for a strategy to control Covid-19," he added. And although the Omicron variant is less dangerous, although more contagious, the countries behind this summit believe that it is essential to do everything possible to prevent new health disasters from taking the world by surprise.
Preparing for the future
"We know that we must prepare now to build, stabilize and finance the global capacity we need, not only in the face of variants of Covid-19, but also in the face of other health crises," they warn.
The Covid-19 disease is far from endemic and can still cause "major epidemics", World Health Organization officials said on Thursday. "We are still in the midst of this pandemic, we all wish it weren't, but we are not in an endemic stage," said WHO Covid chief Maria Van Kerkhove.
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