Ramaphosa: No other pandemic must cause this much death and devastation
President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the work of the independent panel reviewing the Covid-19 response systems.
The panel was established in July 2020 by the World Health Organization to identify gaps and risks, and to make recommendations on how to address weaknesses on Covid responses across the world.
It recently delivered the results from the analysis phase.
Global leaders admitted that the pandemic caught them on the backfoot.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa told heads of state that the panel's work was critical for tackling pandemics in the future.
"The mandate of the panel is founded on the firm conviction that we must act now as a global community to prevent another pandemic from ever again causing such death and devastation," he said.
But Ramaphosa warned that unequal access to resources continues to undermine the fight.
"We cannot hope to overcome this pandemic for as long as richer countries have most of the world’s supply of vaccines to the exclusion and the detriment of poorer countries.
"As we prepare for future pandemics, we need to accelerate efforts to realise universal health coverage. We need to ensure that vaccines and other life-saving treatments are considered a public good," he added.
"A vital lesson from the coronavirus pandemic is the necessity for collective leadership, collaboration, solidarity and innovation among the countries of the world. From the outset, these are the principles that have guided Africa' response to Covid-19."
The panel is still expected to submit its recommendations to help ensure that future pandemics do not cause another global socio-economic crisis.
ALSO READ:
