WHO Preparing Plan To Send Covid Vaccines, Test Kits To Poor Nations. Seeks G20 Nations' Help: Report

WHO aims to send around 1 billion Covid-19 tests to poorer nations, and procure drugs to treat up to 120 million patients globally.

(Representative Image/Getty)

In order to ensure that poor countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a programme to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, news agency Reuters reported.

Drugs such as Merck & Co's (MRK.N) experimental pill Molnupiravir and others are being developed for the initiative that treats patients with mild Coronavirus symptoms.

As per a document accessed by Reuters, WHO aims to send around 1 billion Covid-19 tests to poorer nations, and procure drugs to treat up to 120 million patients globally, out of about 200 million new cases it estimates in the next 12 months.

However, the document is still under draft and there has been no official statement by WHO on its programme yet. The document is most likely to be sent to global leaders ahead of a G20 summit in Rome at the end of this month.

WHO wants to shore up supplies of drugs and tests at a relatively low price after losing the vaccine race to wealthy nations which scooped up a huge share of the world's supplies, leaving the world's poorest countries with few shots, the report stated.

Meanwhile, the ACT-A has also sought donations of $22.8 billion until September 2022 from G20 and other nations. It said that funds are needed to buy and distribute vaccines, drugs and tests to poorer nations.

The initiative will help in narrowing down the huge gaps in the supply of facilities between wealthy and less advanced countries. Donors have so far pledged $18.5 billion to the programme.

Several pills are being developed to treat mild Covid patients, but Molnupiravir is the only one that has so far shown positive results in late-stage trials.

The ACT-A also intends to address essential medical oxygen needs of 6-8 million severe and critical patients by September 2022, the report added further.

Currently, poor nations conduct on average about 50 tests per 100,000 people daily, against 750 tests in richer nations. The WHO initiative wants to bring testing rates to a minimum of 100 tests per 100,000 in poorer states.

In terms of vaccination, the initiative aims at inoculating a minimum of 70 per cent of the eligible population in all countries by the middle of next year.