In an interview with POLITICO, Melinda Gates said the foundation views Europe as key to bringing international players to the table and preventing the wealthiest countries from putting their own needs first.
„That’s why you see us focusing with Europe,“ Gates said. „It’s the European leaders, quite honestly, who understand that we need global cooperation.“ She added: „I think they’re doing the very best they can do in this situation.“
The pledging event may turn out to be mostly a PR exercise — with Commission officials already saying they will count donors’ expenditures since January 30 toward their goal. But Gates said that she hopes it also leads to a more cohesive, worldwide approach by governments, pharma and global health groups, especially concerning fair distribution of a vaccine.
„The worst situation would be, if [and] when these tools are available, they go to the highest bidder — that would be terrible for the world,“ she said.
Health care workers around the globe need to be first in line to get a vaccine when it’s developed, Gates said.
She also urged individual countries to recognize that just because they „solve“ the outbreak within their own borders, they could quickly face a resurgence coming from a less fortunate nation still fighting the disease.
„Covid-19 anywhere is Covid-19 everywhere,“ she said, „and that’s why it’s got to take global cooperation.“
In the interview, Gates did not call out U.S. President Donald Trump directly, but she defended the World Health Organization against recent criticism, which has come most loudly from the White House.
The couple’s foundation is a major funder of the WHO, and Gates said that a time would come to review its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. But she praised the WHO’s historic record in helping eradicate infectious diseases and said political leaders right now should focus on overcoming the crisis. „You don’t take something down in the middle of a crisis,“ she said.
„There’s no institution that’s perfect,“ Gates added. „Everyone will need to do a post mortem when we’re out of this crisis … but you don’t do that during a crisis.“
Bill and Melinda Gates have faced plenty of criticism themselves, though. Vaccine skeptics redirecting their conspiratorial views at the coronavirus outbreak have targeted Bill Gates for his global health work, claiming he is using the virus — or even created it — to generate money for Big Pharma or to put tracking devices in everyone.
„It’s confounding when you see that out there,“ Melinda Gates said, though she added widespread anxiety was fueling some of the negativity.
„When there’s more anxiety, and people have more time on their hands, they want to, you know, attack someone,“ she said. „So OK, we happen to be the ones that [they] are attacking right now. But … we know who we are. We haven’t changed in 20 years.
„The foundation, from the get-go when we started, was about the most vulnerable,“ she said. „And that’s what we’re still about, so we just keep doing it.“
Gates said the foundation, working with the Commission, aimed to play a coordinating role, helping to funnel money through other partner organizations that would oversee the efforts to develop a vaccine and therapeutics, including the Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in Geneva; and the Wellcome Trust in London.
Source: politico.com
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