Civil Society Organizations want Malawi Government to invest $40 Million (about K32 billion) on Covid-19 vaccines, which will enable Malawi to vaccinate 5 Million individuals.
Organizations led by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and other concerned organizations will deliver a statement to Malawi Parliamentary Committee on Health today to request Malawi Government to procure vaccines to supplement what the country is receiving from donors.
AHF will also hold a roundtable discussion in Lilongwe to urge world leaders, vaccine manufacturers, and public health organizations to ‘vow’ to protect humanity by providing equal access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, particularly in lower-income countries.
The ambitious but achievable ‘Vaccinate Our World’ call-to-action includes five primary tenets: that global COVID-19 vaccination effort must secure $100 billion from G20 countries, that seven billion vaccine doses should be produced worldwide within one year, that companies and governments must waive or suspend all COVID-19 vaccine patents during the pandemic, that countries must be 100% transparent in sharing information and data, and that world leaders must also promote far greater international cooperation as the driving force for ending the pandemic, not continue with politics as usual.
“Covid-19 has disturbed the world’s way of life. Families have suffered, and have lost loved ones regardless of country of origin. The pain of losing a loved one is enormous, and this is even more if the death has resulted from selfish behavior of some other people. Unequal sharing of Covid-19 vaccines between the poor and the rich countries of this world is one such selfish behavior. This must stop now,” said AHF Malawi Country Program Manager, Ms. Triza Kakhobwe Hara.
More than 1.3 billion COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide but 83% have gone to a handful of wealthy nations. Low-income countries – of which many are in Africa – have received a mere 0.3%.
In Malawi, a total of 428,407 vaccine doses have been administered so far and the country has since suspended its vaccination program as it does not currently have any dose.
“If one nation has COVID-19 and no access to vaccines, all countries are in danger,” said AHF Africa Bureau Chief Dr. Penninah Iutung. “The ‘VOW’ call-to-action is about uniting advocates worldwide and shining a spotlight on the immorality of vaccine rationing. While COVAX was established to help lower-income nations – the quantities of vaccines have been inadequate and have forced developing countries in Africa to fend for themselves in securing enough vaccines to protect their citizens. Legislators and decision-makers must do more to ensure that all countries have the requisite numbers of vaccines to ‘Vaccinate Our World’ and defeat the pandemic.”
The ‘Vaccinate Our World’ call-to-action kicked off in mid-April with a global digital advocacy campaign and has continued with virtual media events in Bangkok, São Paulo, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kampala, and now Malawi.
