NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 15 – Disparities caused by COVID-19 remain stark, and those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic will be the slowest to recover, a Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Report released on Tuesday indicates.
The fifth Goalkeepers Report, co-authored by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that, because of COVID-19, an additional 31 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020 compared to 2019.
However the report indicated that amidst the pandemic, the world stepped up to avert some of the worst-case scenarios.
“In last year’s Goalkeepers Report, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicted a drop of 14 percentage points in global vaccine coverage—effectively erasing 25 years of progress in 25 weeks. New analysis from IHME demonstrates that the decline, while still unacceptable, was only half of what was anticipated.”
The co-chairs called for long-term investments in health and economies — like the ones that led to the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine — to propel recovery efforts and get the world back on track to meet the Global Goals.
“The past year has reinforced our belief that progress is possible but not inevitable,” the co-chairs wrote. “If we can expand upon the best of what we have seen these past 18 months, we can finally put the pandemic behind us and once again accelerate progress in addressing fundamental issues like health, hunger, and climate change.”
On access to vaccines, Bill and Melinda noted that the world has not benefited equally since the systems that allowed for the unprecedented development and deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine exist primarily in wealthy countries.
“The lack of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is a public health tragedy,” said Bill Gates. “We face the very real risk that in the future, wealthy countries and communities will begin treating COVID-19 as yet another disease of poverty. We can’t put the pandemic behind us until everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to vaccines.”
The report also highlighted the dis-proportionate economic impact that the pandemic has had on women globally, with women in high- and low-income countries alike been hardest hit than men by the global recession that was triggered by the pandemic.
“Women face structural barriers in every corner of the world, leaving them more vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic,” said Melinda French Gates.
“By investing in women now and addressing these inequities, governments can spur a more equitable recovery while strengthening their economies against future crises. It’s not just the right thing to do—but smart policy that will benefit everyone.”
On COVID-19 administration, the foundation found that more than 80 per cent of inoculations had been issued in high- and upper-middle-income countries to date, with some securing two to three times the number needed so they can cover boosters; less than 1 per cent of doses have been administered in low-income countries.
Further, COVID-19 vaccine access has been strongly correlated with the locations where there is vaccine Research & Development (R&D) and manufacturing capability. Though Africa is home to 17 per cent of the world’s population, for example, it has less than 1 per cent of the world’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities.
To address the impediments faced in addressing matters COVID-19, the co-chairs called for investment in local partners to strengthen the capacity of researchers and manufacturers in lower-income countries to create the vaccines and medicines they need.
“The only way we will solve our greatest health challenges is by drawing on the innovation and talent of people all over the world,” said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman.