Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula demanded at the recent 27th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government a universal and equitable access to vaccines against Covid-19, after rejecting the rich countries’ hoarding of the medication.
This was one of the main demands that was included in the Summit’s final declaration held in the Principality of Andorra, a small State located between Spain and France.
In their agreement, the 22 members of the group (19 Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra) called for universal access, purchase and distribution of vaccines, and to prevent the monopoly of doses by developed nations.
The text agreed upon by the cooperation mechanism reads: ‘To avoid hoarding by those who ‘have greater power or economic influence, so that financial interests do not prevail over public health’.
The leaders called for the strengthening of multilateralism and urged the international community and the pharmaceutical industry to confront the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the cause of Covid-19, with greater equity.
‘The devastating effects of the pandemic require a global, coordinated, solidarity-based and joint response to face the great challenge of the inclusive and resilient reconstruction of our economies and to strengthen sustainable development. Above all, the fight against poverty and inequality,’ the declaration states.
It calls for urgent and equitable distribution of safe and effective vaccines as part of the efforts of the Covid-19 Global Access Fund for Vaccines (Covax), a partnership involving 190 countries under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
During the plenary session, the Latin American leaders agreed during their speeches, most of them by videoconference, that the region lacks political formulas, which are essential to end the pandemic and initiate economic recovery.
The industrialized nations ‘have developed hoarding policies in contradiction with human solidarity,’ said the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.
‘The rich countries, which represent 16 percent of the population, own 54 percent of the vaccines and have more than they need, it is necessary for us to raise our voices in the face of this situation’ said the president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado.
‘We will succeed together or we will fail separately. The decision is ours alone,’ warned the Dominican, who took command of the pro tempore secretariat in Andorra to organize the next Summit, which will take place in 2022 in his country. (PL)
