A “Landmark Collaboration Agreed by World Leaders’’- To Fight the Corona Virus Pandemic: By Donovan Reynolds Independent Writer

Donovan Reynolds CEO Kingstonmouth.com

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates, and its effects reverberate around the world there is no doubt that an urgent multilateral approach is necessary. Especially, when more than 2.7 million people have been infected with COVID-19 and nearly 190,000 have died from it since the new coronavirus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, according to a May 1st Reuters tally.

An impromptu grouping of 20 world leaders and global health figures were on the online  call, including the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the American philanthropist Bill Gates met last week to raise funding to fight the global coronavirus pandemic.
 Similarly, the United Kingdom will co-chair a joint coronavirus global response summit on 4 May aimed at raising funds for vaccine research, treatments, and tests. As Scientists around the world are scrambling to create the first vaccine for the deadly coronavirus. The US did not take part in the pledge, made at a virtual meeting, designed to show that wealthy countries will not keep the results of research from developing countries.Nevertheless, at the virtual meeting of world leaders, the following five pledges were agreed on :

         To provide access to new treatments, technologies and vaccines across the world.

·         To commit to an unprecedented level of international partnership on research and coordinate efforts to tackle the pandemic and reduce infections.

·         To reach collective decisions on responding to the pandemic, recognizing that the virus’s spread in one country can affect all countries.

·         To learn from experience and adapt the global response.

·         To Be accountable, to the most vulnerable communities and the whole world.

The group of twenty world leaders that met represented a broad global coalition to include the Global South. At the Meeting  the chairman of the African Union and South African President Cyril Maphosa  warned that ; the continent - with its generally poor standards of healthcare - was “extremely vulnerable to the ravages of this virus and is in need of support”.

Similar meetings were announced in the associated press for the near future as countries scale up their efforts to fight the virus. Britain has been one of the biggest supporters of the global effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, providing £250m for international research on the disease at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.  The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has set that the objective at a global pledging effort on May 4 would be to raise 7.5 billion euros ($8.10 billion) to ramp up work on prevention, diagnostics and treatment. Additionally,  Britain has announced recently that it  will co-chair a joint coronavirus global response summit on 4 May aimed at raising funds for vaccine research, treatments and tests

Apart  than the Usual donors Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Chinas, Jack Ma, the 55-year-old founder of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba stepped up to the plate .He has donated 100million yuan (£11million) to help scientists develop the vaccine for the deadly coronavirus. The self-made entrepreneur announced the charitable donation last month through his foundation.

Other Intergovernmental Organizations such as the WHO called for a united push to tackling the global pandemic. During a press briefing recently, the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, I n a tacit mood said: “We are facing a common threat that we can only defeat with a common approach. Experience has told us that even when tools are available, they have not been equally available to all. We cannot allow that to happen.” This statement is interpreted by “Kingston mouth”” as a swipe against recent negative press briefings against the WHO made by Donald Trump at his infamous daily White House Coved 19 press briefings.

We at Kingston-mouth believe that despite the disputed allegations of the origin and criticism around the management of the global pandemic. A multilateral approach to the management of the pandemic led by the WHO is the way forward. By the same token we believe that the WHO initially could have been more skeptical about Chinese data given. China and   the US have accused each other of bullying and disinformation over the coronavirus outbreak, damaging efforts to secure cooperation at the G20, the natural international institution to handle global health outside the UN.

Meanwhile, those who dislike Donald Trump  for his frequent damaging policy information are in for another annoying policy bombshell. President Donald Trump announced last fortnight that he will be halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO). While his administration reviews the group’s handling of the coronavirus.

In response, Bill Gates rightfully tweeted that the White House should not withhold funding for the World Health Organization during a global pandemic. “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds, “he opined.

The U.S. contribution to the pool of assessed fees to the WHO is $237 million biannually. That is 22% of the total assessed fees, the largest share of any nation. By comparison, China contributes 12% of this pool of monies, and some low-income countries like Jamaica pay 0.1%.Thre is no doubt that Presidents Trump decision to hold back its budgetary contribution to the UN will leave a huge black hole in the UNs budget that needs to be filled. A task that could prove arduous at a time when the world bank predicts that Global GDP is expected to decline by 2.1%, while developing countries’ GDP is expected to decline by 2.5% and high-income countries by 1.9%. However, challenging the time is financially a huge amount of funds must be found to fight this invisible and devastating enemy.

In a picture taken recently by the associated press and posted online, scientists were seen in Canada were seen busy   working in a laboratory of Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. The organization is researching a vaccine for novel coronavirus as is reported from an inside source that they are close to having human test done. It seems as if the race is on from various pharmaceutical laboratories in developing countries to come up with a vaccine that will halt the escalating death rate may be at least 1year to 18 months away. So the world will have to come together to fight this massive humanitarian crisis that is threatening to wipe out human existence.

To conclude, at an online forum recently Global leaders have pledged to accelerate cooperation on a Covid-19 vaccine. In addition to raising and to share research, treatment and medicines around the globe as part of a World Health Organization initiative. Kingston-mouth wish them well. We certainly hope that the US will allow god sense to prevail although with this Donald Trump US administration as in this time of acute humanitarian crisis every dollar of the World Health Organization budget matters. 
Donovan Reynolds is the CEO Kingstonmouth.com He is a Trained Diplomat, Human Rights activist and a Communication Consultant. His article is edited by Ann Smith a British Educator and Social Activist. Kingstommouth.com is a charitable organization that has been in existence for over eight years. We have an interest in Politics, Human Rights and International Development Issues. Viewers wishing to comment on this article may do so at the space provided on this blog. Alternatively, they can contact us at kingstonmouth 63@ gmail.com or on our twitter or Facebook Page.