Over 100 Global Leaders Urge G7 to Take the Lead in COVID-19 Response

WHO Demands 67% Share of COVID-19 Response Costs
Also Calls for COVID-19 Vaccine IP Waiver... "Must Address Vaccine Inequality"

Attendees of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers meeting, including Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (second from the right), are taking a group photo after concluding the second day of the meeting in London, UK, on the 5th (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Over 100 leaders, including current and former prime ministers and foreign ministers from various countries, have urged the Group of Seven (G7) ahead of this week's summit to take the lead in international cooperation for COVID-19 response.

According to the British daily The Guardian on the 7th, they stated in a joint letter that the G7 countries?United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada?should bear 67% of the $66 billion (approximately 73.5 trillion KRW) required for the World Health Organization (WHO)'s 'ACT-A (Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator)' initiative. This plan includes measures to accelerate the development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines and to ensure equitable distribution. They emphasized that this investment is crucial in preventing the spread of COVID-19 variants.

The letter emerged amid criticism following UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement of plans to cut about 40% of the overseas aid budget ahead of the G7 summit scheduled from the 11th to 13th in Cornwall, England.

Signatories of the letter include former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former UK Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, former Irish President Mary Robinson, and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Additionally, 230 prominent figures signed, including Jeremy Farrar, Director of the UK health foundation 'Wellcome Trust,' and Bengt Holmstr?m, Nobel laureate in Economics from Finland.

Former Prime Minister Brown stated, "The G7's investment is not an act of charity but self-defense to prevent the spread of infection and emergence of variants," adding, "It is the world's best insurance, costing just 30 pounds (about 50,000 KRW) per week per British citizen."

They also argued that the G7 should temporarily waive intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines to address the wealth gap between countries regarding vaccine access. According to The Guardian, while over 70% of the UK population has received at least one vaccine dose, the vaccination rate in sub-Saharan Africa remains only 2%.