The World Health Organisation called for US$675 million in donations for a plan to fight the coronavirus, mainly through investment in countries considered at risk.
“Today, we’re launching a strategic preparedness and response plan. We’re requesting US$675 million to fund the plan for the next three months,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.
Teldros highlighted the need to invest in preparedness: “Our message to the international community is invest today or pay more later”, he said.
He further explained that $60 million would be for WHO operations, and while the rest would go to countries requiring assistance. He said the WHO was sending 500,000 masks and 40,000 respirators to 24 countries from its warehouses in Dubai and Accra.
Teldros also welcomed a US$100 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for virus testing, treatment and vaccine research.
WHO appeals for $675m to fight coronavirus
EPA-EFE/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to the media after the WHO's Emergency Committee meeting on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), during a press conference, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 January 2020. The WHO has declared an global public health emergency over the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
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