AIDS Healthcare Foundation petitions Malawi Parliament on Govt to spend US$40 million on Covid-19 vaccines

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation petitions Malawi Parliament on Govt to spend US$40 million on Covid-19 vaccines
AIDS Healthcare Foundation petitions Malawi Parliament on Govt to spend US$40 million on Covid-19 vaccines

Africa-PressMalawi. The international civil Society organization under the banner AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) along side local grouping on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 petitioned Malawi Parliament on the need for government to invest US$40 Million (about K32 billion) on Covid-19 vaccines to cater five million Malawians.

The petition is part of the series activities for the global call dubbed as, ” Vaccinate our World’ call-to action rolls on in Africa”. AHF together with other concerned organizations are requesting Malawi Government to procure vaccines to supplement what the country is receiving from donors.

The grouping through roundtable discussion in the capital Lilongwe also urged 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.

Dingan Mithi from Universal Health Coverage call for global world leaders to help developing nations including Malawi with funds for Covid-19 Vaccines.

Maziko Matemba another health expert chipped in, ” Our Parliament must allocate special vote particular on Covid-19 vaccines while waiting developmental partners for support”.

AHF Malawi Country Program Manager, Triza Kakhobwe Hara added, “The ambitious but achievable ‘Vaccinate Our World’ call-to-action includes five primary tenets: that global COVID-19 vaccination effort must secure U$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. for Vaccinate our World’ call-to action rolls on in Africa

“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”.

Chimwemwe Chipungu, Parliamentary Health Committee Member upon receiving petition assured civil rights group on their demands towards procuring Covi-19 vaccines to the nation. Chipungu said that the petition will be submitted to Speaker Parliament whereby health committees will advance the agenda presented in the petition.

“This is a serious matter that Speaker’s desk will have the petition today that our health committee will engage directly minister of finance for action to serve lives of our people,” assures Chipungu.

As of June 28, 2021, Malawi had 35, 707 Covid-19 cases with 1,187 deaths out of 265,692 total tests that about 385, 242 got first dosage of vaccine and 43, 165 second dose. Malawi currently is now run out of Covid-19 Vaccines dosage.

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%.

“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 2021 with a global digital advocacy campaign and has continued with virtual media events in Bangkok, São Paulo, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kampala, and now Malawi. Malawi is expected 20% of the total population of 19 million people to be vaccinated from Covid-19.

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