Pune: World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that global roll-out of more than 12 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses is the largest and fastest in human history. Addressing the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) virtually on Thursday (October 20), he flagged the issue of inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines. The three-day event is being co-hosted by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, said a statement. He said,
Global roll-out of more than 12 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses is the largest and fastest in history with an estimated 60 per cent doses produced by manufacturers in developing countries. Despite this achievement, stark inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines remain.
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“These inequities are due partly to the fact that globally vaccine production is too concentrated. To address this, the WHO and our partners have established the mRNA Tech Transfer hub in South Africa to facilitate the know-how in low & middle-income countries,” Dr Ghebreyesus said.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII, said it was a proud moment for his company to co-host the 23rd DCVMN annual general meeting in Pune. Mr Poonawalla said,
Today, the world is more aware and focused on chalking out an ambition-to-action roadmap for future pandemic preparedness. For that, building the infrastructure and regulations to ensure global equity and timely access to vaccines is the foremost priority.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya delivered the inaugural address.
DCVMN is an international alliance of manufacturers from developing countries who are engaged in innovation, research, development, manufacturing and supply of high-quality vaccines to 170 countries.
The organisation aims to protect people against known and emerging infectious diseases globally by increasing the production of high-quality vaccines in developing countries.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
