WHO Chief Calls on G20 to Remove Trade Barriers Impeding Fight against Coronavirus

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an address to a virtual meeting of G20 heath ministers called for the removal of trade barriers that impede the fight against the novel coronavirus.

He urged “all G20 countries to work together to increase the production and equitable distribution of essential supplies, and to remove trade barriers that put health workers and their patients at risk.”

The WHO chief pointed out that G20 countries were expected “to continue to support the global response to COVID-19.”

“We will soon publish a second Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, with an estimate of the resources needed for the next phase of the response,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted, adding: “More than 900 million US dollars has been pledged for our first Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.”

According to the WHO chief, “one of the biggest challenges we face in Africa and other countries is the critical shortage of supplies, and the ability to deliver them because of weak supply chains.” “We are deeply concerned that the virus now appears to be gathering pace in countries that lack the capacity of many G20 countries to respond to it,” he stressed, urging the G20 group “to support African countries with stimulus packages and debt relief so they can focus on fighting the pandemic.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that “the current pandemic has highlighted weakness in health systems and global preparedness.” He welcomed the G20 counties’ commitment “not only to combat the current crisis, but to ensure this never happens again.”