President Cyril Ramaphosa explained on Monday that effective and comprehensive global vaccination is essential to ending the pandemic, calling for an urgent increase in vaccine production across the world, including in low- and middle-income countries. 

Ramaphosa was addressing the seventy-fourth World Health Assembly (WHA74) taking place between May 24 and June 1.

He said millions of people in wealthier nations had been vaccinated, while billions of people in poorer countries still wait and are still vulnerable to infection, disease and death.

“We all need to work together to correct this. This is not only a moral imperative. Effective and comprehensive global vaccination is vital to ending the pandemic,” he said.

Ramaphosa said millions of lives had been lost, while every sphere of life had been disrupted, and citizens of every country had had to endure severe hardship. 

He added that the pandemic had made individuals more aware of their strengths and vulnerabilities.

“It has also demonstrated how interconnected we are and how dependent we are on each other for our health and well-being,” he said.

Ramaphosa explained that ending the pandemic required individuals to urgently attend to the huge divide in the provision of the Covid-19 vaccines to people across the world.

FUNDING PARTNERS AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

Ramaphosa called on all leaders to continue to support the development of vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and other essential needs so that the $18.5-billion needed to ensure that appropriate tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment reach all parts of the globe.

He said all countries must support the call for a limited waiver on intellectual property rights as a mechanism to promote rapid, equitable access, to allow countries to use intellectual property, share technologies to produce vaccines and therapeutics, lower prices and expedite distribution to everyone, everywhere.

“As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we need to build more robust pandemic response systems. We need to give attention to the establishment of a Global Health Council that collaborates with the WHO to support regional and national response mechanisms. We need to invest in our national health systems, understanding that these are vital to the health of our people and the sustainability of our economies,” said Ramaphosa.