President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is also Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has admonished leaders in Africa to contribute to the global discourse on access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Addressing the 59th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS over the weekend, the President said Covid-19 continues to ravage the world and our Region.
He opined that the strong measures taken at national and regional levels, since the outbreak of the pandemic, have enabled member states to contain and mitigate its impact in their respective countries, the tragic deaths we have recorded, notwithstanding.
He said, ”we need, as a community, to contribute to the global discourse on access and availability of vaccines for all the peoples of the world. Through the COVAX initiative, all the countries in the Region have taken delivery of some vaccines, supplemented by direct procurement by some Member States. I thank foreign friends of the community who have contributed to funding the initiative. We note, however, that the quantities received are woefully insufficient. We must, thus, continue to work on the purchase and production of vaccines in our Region. We have to encourage Members of our Community, Nigeria, Senegal, and my own country, Ghana, which is making the effort to produce their own vaccines. We cannot afford to be naked the next time.”
The recent decision of the G7 to provide more vaccines to developing countries is commendable, just as is its decision on the taxation of multinational companies. It is a first step towards addressing the illicit flow of funds, in which these multi-national companies play a major part, and which lead to the huge exodus of resources from our Continent. There is still more to be done,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
