Middle East countries expected to show strong support for global vaccine summit

Governments have been urged to contribute to efforts to save millions from infectious diseases

Efforts are underway to produce an effective vaccine for the novel coronavirus. EPA

Middle East nations are expected to show unequivocal support in pledges at the Global Vaccine Summit in London on Thursday.

The Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, has urged governments and the private sector to donate for vaccinations to save millions of lives in the poorest countries and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Representatives of more than 50 countries, including dozens of heads of state and government, will come together to raise an expected $7.4 billion (Dh27.1bn).

Donations will be used to protect children from deadly diseases such as polio, diphtheria and measles, and save up to eight million lives, but will also bolster the health of the global economy.

“I hope this summit will be the moment when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against disease,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to tell those taking part.

“I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health co-operation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavour of our lifetimes.”

With more than six million cases of coronavirus worldwide, healthcare systems around the globe have been pushed to breaking point.

There are fears that the additional pressure of Covid-19 could allow outbreaks of other diseases and threaten the global population at its most vulnerable.

Gavi is already working with partners to prepare for the introduction of a future coronavirus vaccine and ensure it can be delivered at scale around the world.

Coronavirus in the Middle East

A Yemeni man walks at a market in the old quarter of Sanaa. Reuters

Aswin Sarang, head of Reliable Robotics company, stands with a fever detection and hand sanitiser dispenser robot in Dubai. Before the pandemic, the company had been renting the robots out for events to welcome guests, but since the Covid-19 outbreak, Reliable Robotics has used its technology to help fight the spread of coronavirus. EPA

Iraqi Kurds gather during a demonstration demanding the end of coronavirus lockdown in the city of Sulaimaniyah, in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq. AFP

A traffic jam at the Dubai border going towards Abu Dhabi on Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai, as Abu Dhabi Police check movement permits. Pawan Singh / The National

Palestinians gather at a stall to buy fish in Gaza City. AFP

A Palestinian man displays office chairs for sale outside a store, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

Palestinian vendors wait for customers behind their stall in Gaza City. AFP

A Palestinian woman walks past the construction site of an office building, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

A mask-clad man cares for a garden near the Erbil Citadel in the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

Pigeons flying in an empty square outside Erbil Citadel in the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

A banner with pictures of the English football club Liverpool player Mohamed Salah, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of the Italian club Juventus, is seen above a cafe that has been transformed into a vegetable shop in Cairo, Egypt. Reuters

A worker carries tomatoes at a cafe that has been transformed into a vegetable shop, in Cairo, Egypt. Reuters

Passengers wait in line for check-in for their repatriation flight for Libya, at the Tunis Carthage International Airport in Tunis, Tunisia. EPA

A worker disinfects surfaces at the Terminal of the Tunis Carthage International Airport in Tunis, Tunisia. EPA