Ethiopia Joins Norway and UK in $240m Pandemic Vaccine Push

The UK and Norway have pledged up to 240 million US dollars towards the next phase of global efforts to develop vaccines and other medical tools against epidemic and pandemic threats, with Ethiopia also committing to maintain its financial support for the initiative.

The UK will provide up to 134 million US dollars, while Norway has committed 106 million US dollars. Ethiopia did not disclose the value of its planned contribution to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI.

The funding will support CEPI 3.0, the organisation’s 2027–2031 strategy, which seeks to reduce the likelihood, impact and cost of future epidemics and pandemics by accelerating the development of vaccines against emerging viral threats.

The commitments were announced during a CEPI side event at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, days before a UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response scheduled for September 25.

Ethiopia’s Health Minister Mekdes Daba said the country’s contribution was part of efforts to strengthen Africa’s capacity to deal with infectious disease threats. She pointed to the ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as evidence of the risks posed by outbreaks across national borders.

Daba said Ethiopia’s support for CEPI 3.0 would help accelerate the development of vaccines against known diseases as well as threats that have yet to emerge. She also said Africa needed to strengthen its research, manufacturing and regulatory capacity so that vaccines and other medical innovations could increasingly be developed on the continent.

For the UK, the funding will also support CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, which aims to have diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines ready for regulatory approval within 100 days of a new epidemic or pandemic threat being identified.

Chris Elmore, a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office minister, said investment in disease prevention and preparedness was both a global responsibility and in the UK’s national interest.

UK Health and Social Care Minister Baroness Merron said the country’s contribution would support research into vaccines for some of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases and strengthen its ability to respond to emerging health threats.

Norway’s Minister of International Development Åsmund Aukrust said his country’s support was focused on pandemic preparedness, scientific collaboration and access to life-saving health technologies.

Richard Hatchett, CEPI’s chief executive, said scientific advances now allowed vaccines against new viral threats to be developed in a fraction of the time previously required, but maintaining that capability depended on sustained investment.

The funding announcement comes as governments prepare to discuss a political declaration at the September 25 UN meeting aimed at strengthening international measures for preventing, preparing for and responding to future health emergencies.

Source: FSX Business News