#endcovidforall
(information from #endcovidforall campaign – the full report can be downloaded here).
COVID-19 and its knock-on impacts have affected almost every one of the world’s 7.9 billion people but not all equally. There is an urgent need for the world to come together to ensure that safe, effective vaccines make it into the arms of people around the world. And Australia has a vital role to play in this. Australia needs to commit its fair share of $250m to the COVAX facility in finance and agree to supply a further 20 million vaccine doses, in addition to our regional commitments. There must be vaccine equity for frontline workers and vulnerable groups. Australia needs to invest at least 50 million into addressing vaccine hesitancy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific through strengthened partnerships with trusted, community led organisations. Community engagement is the cornerstone to building trust and vaccine confidence in diverse communities and groups.
The pandemic has disproportionately affected the world’s most vulnerable. Only 2.3% of people in low income countries have had at least one dose of the vaccine. New waves continue to sweep through Southeast Asia and Africa, as many countries battle the highly transmissible Delta variant and other variants of concern. There is widespread under-reporting of cases and health systems are at breaking point.
In Australia we thought we had crushed COVID-19. For a brief period, Australia enjoyed months of living largely free of the virus. While the virus continued to ravage other parts of the world.
But then the virus mutated and restrictions returned. Our current response, mass vaccination, offers renewed protection. But unless everyone, everywhere receives this protection, the virus will continue to spread and mutate. That is why it really isn’t over for anyone until it is over for everyone.
Vaccination rates for low income countries around the world are dangerously low. At the rates of vaccination in July and August 2021, only Mozambique, Nepal and Tajikistan are on track to reach the target of 70% of the population fully vaccinated by the end of 2022. Only Malawi, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone will achieve the same target by the end of the decade. The remaining 23 low income countries have such low rates of vaccination that achieving a 70% coverage target is projected to be beyond 2030. This rate of vaccination continuing unaddressed creates risks of new variants, undermines health security, will continue to have global economic consequences and risks political instability.
Extreme poverty: For the first time in decades human development has gone backwards – a direct result of COVID-19. The World Bank estimates 150 million more people will end up in extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic. Inaction on addressing COVID risks reversing decades of hard won gains in poverty reduction, health, education, food security, and gender and disability inclusion. To achieve the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 will require both immediate action to end the acute phase of the pandemic and long-term investments in rebuilding.
Health: A recent pulse survey by the World Health Organization of 135 countries found 90% of countries reporting one or more disruptions to essential health services. A recent Global Fund report found significant disruption to diagnoses and treatment of infectious diseases In facilities in seven countries across Asia, malaria diagnosis fell 56 per cent and malaria treatment services plummeted by 59 per cent.
Education: 1.5 billion children have been impacted by school closures due to COVID-19. 463 million children have been unable to access remote learning due to a lack of internet access at home.
Food Security: Between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020 – as many as 161 million more than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Mortality: The existing health situation in low income countries is shocking. Maternal mortality is 70 times higher than in Australia. Neonatal mortality is 11 times higher than in Australia. The mortality rate for children under five is 18 times higher than in Australia and life expectancy is 18 years shorter. This will only get worse the longer health systems in low income countries are impacted by COVID-19.