The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged the global leaders, attending the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), to guarantee equitable access to Covid vaccines and other life-saving tools. It also called for ensuring that the world is better prepared to respond to future pandemics; renewing efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Covid-19 pandemic has already claimed nearly 5 million lives, and the virus continues to circulate actively across the globe. Vaccines are the most critical tool to end the pandemic and save lives and livelihoods. More than 5.7 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 73% of all doses have been administered in just 10 countries. High-income countries have administered 61 times more doses per inhabitant than low-income ones. The longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and evolving, and the longer the social and economic disruption will continue. So, the UN health agency targets to vaccinate at least 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70% by the middle of next year. Read: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery These targets are achievable if countries and manufacturers make a genuine commitment to vaccine equity. The WHO is calling on countries to fulfil their dose-sharing pledges immediately and to swap their near-term vaccine deliveries with COVAX and AVAT (African Covid-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team). The UN agency is also calling on manufacturers to prioritise supplies to COVAX and partners, and for countries and manufacturers to facilitate the sharing of technology, know-how and intellectual property to support regional vaccine manufacturing. COVAX, the global initiative for equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, is led by the WHO; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Unicef and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries. So far, COVAX has shipped more than 260 million doses to 141 countries. However, the WHO urged all countries to break the cycle of "panic and neglect" seen after previous health emergencies, and commit adequate financial resources, as well as political will, to strengthening health emergency preparedness across the globe. Read:'Only Together' campaign to support global vaccine equity call Universal health coverage (UHC) is a keystone of global health security. Despite progress in UHC in recent years, 90% of countries have reported disruptions in essential health services due to the pandemic, with the consequences reverberating beyond the health sector. Serious investment in UHC and pandemic preparedness is critical not only to bolster global health security but also to getting the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda back on track. The pandemic has reversed progress towards the SDGs, including gains that had been made on eradicating poverty, eliminating gender inequality, vaccinating children against communicable diseases and girls' and boys' education. However, it is also providing the world with new opportunities to do things differently and to truly collaborate on building back better – towards a healthier, fairer, more inclusive and sustainable world.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to focus on the issues relating to equity in vaccine sharing, sustainable recovery, climate change and Rohingya crisis at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). "Covid-19 vaccines should be a public good without any discrimination," said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday sharing the key engagements of the Prime Minister. State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen were, among others, present at the press conference. Prime Minister Hasina leaves here on Friday morning on a two-week official visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and other engagements with a stopover in Helsinki, Finland. The theme of this year’s UNGA is “Building resilience through hope-to recover from Covid-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations.”Dr Momen said the Prime Minister will address the UNGA on September 24 in Bangla and in-person. The Prime Minister will highlight Bangladesh’s impressive development journey, inclusive economic development, and success in the health sector, said the Foreign Minister. He said Bangladesh will host a side event on the Rohingya issue titled “Rohingya crisis: Imperatives for a sustainable solution” where many countries are expected to voluntarily join. Read: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery The OIC, ASEAN and European countries have already responded positively. Dr Momen said there will be a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA. The Prime Minister will deliver a speech at a programme titled “UN Common Agenda: Action to achieve Equality and Inclusion.”

Commonwealth health ministers have called for swift and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines for everyone around the world. They expressed deep concern over the stark gaps in access and delivery of doses, especially in poor countries, and called for "fair and transparent" pricing for the vaccine in a joint statement Friday on behalf of the 54 Commonwealth member countries. Only 0.3% of the life-saving vaccine doses have been administered in 29 poor countries. About 84% of shots have been given in high and upper-middle-income countries. Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: "The science is clear: vaccination works and is the clear and only sustainable route out of this pandemic for the whole world." "The rise of new variants shows that until everyone is safe no one is safe. No plan to tackle this virus will work until everyone agrees to work together." "We must talk with each other to move away from some stockpiling vaccines, while many low-middle income countries still do not have access to the much-needed vaccine supplies for the vulnerable populations in their countries. So, cooperation to develop a global immunisation plan to deliver equal access to vaccines must be a top priority," Patricia added. Vaccine equity The Commonwealth health ministers appreciated the global vaccine equity initiative "COVAX" and encouraged all partners to support government efforts on boosting vaccine confidence and immunisation drives. Recognising the acute gaps in research and development of new tests, vaccines and therapies in the Commonwealth, they stressed enhanced collaboration with scientists, academics and business leaders. Speaking at the meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Vaccines are reducing severe disease and death in countries that are fortunate enough to have them in sufficient quantities, and early results suggest that vaccines might also drive down transmission." "The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic. We seek the support of the Commonwealth in solving the global vaccine crisis by funding the ACT Accelerator, advocating for greater sharing of technology, know-how and intellectual property, and sharing doses with COVAX." The ministers further backed a potential treaty on the fight against pandemics and a Commonwealth mechanism to share and distribute extra medical supplies such as ventilators and medicines. They called on the heads of government to allocate resources for strengthening health systems, especially through primary healthcare, towards attaining universal health coverage. Maintaining essential health services New data shows 60 immunisation campaigns for other health threats are now suspended in 50 countries due to Covid-19. Such delays could cause significant avoidable mortality. Disruptions to HIV/AIDS services, for instance, could lead to five thousand excess deaths globally. So, the ministers committed to keeping essential health services running and sustaining the gains made towards tackling threats such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, avoidable blindness and non-communicable diseases while dealing with an influx of Covid-19 cases. In their statement, they further voiced their support for a common framework for sovereign debt treatments, cooperation with the WHO and improved compliance with the International Health Regulations for preventing the spread of disease. This is the second time that Commonwealth health ministers met virtually for their annual gathering due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The meeting, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, took place on 20 and 21 May.

The United Nations on Thursday launched a new global campaign, Only Together, aiming to advance fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.