The MasterCard Foundation says it will deploy $1.3 billion to save the lives and livelihoods of millions of Africans and hasten the economic recovery of the continent.
Reeta Roy, President of MasterCard foundation said this in a webinar on Tuesday that the project would be in partnership with Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to her, the partnership with Africa CDC is for three year to save the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in Africa and hasten the economic recovery of the continent.
“The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative will acquire vaccines for at least 50 million people; support the delivery of vaccinations to millions more across the continent.
“It will also lay the groundwork for vaccine manufacturing in Africa through a focus on human capital development and strengthen the Africa CDC.
“Ensuring equitable access and delivery of vaccines across Africa is urgent.
“This initiative is about valuing all lives and accelerating the economic recovery of the continent.
“In the process, this initiative will catalyze work opportunities in the health sector and beyond as part of our Young Africa Works strategy,” Roy said.
Roy said that the African Union’s goal as set out in the African COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access Strategy was to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of its population.
This, she said was approximately 750 million people or the entire adult population of the continent by the end of 2022.
“To date, less than two per cent of Africans have received at least one vaccine dose.
“The new partnership builds on the efforts of the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access facility (COVAX), the COVID-19 African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), and the global community to expand access to vaccines across Africa,’’ she said.
Roy said that the number of vaccines available to Africa represents a small portion of the global supply and the financial costs to purchase, deliver, and administer vaccines remain significant.
She said the Africa CDC was calling on governments, global funders, the private sector and others to help meet this goal.
“Ensuring inclusivity in vaccine access and building Africa’s capacity to manufacture its own vaccines is not just good for the continent but the only sustainable path out of the pandemic into a health-secure future.
“This partnership with the MasterCard Foundation is a bold step towards establishing a New Public Health Order for Africa and we welcome other actors to join this historic journey,’’ Dr. John Nkengasong, Director, Africa CDC.
Nkengasong said that in 2020, Africa faced its first economic recession in 25 years due to the pandemic.
He said that the African Development Bank has warned that COVID-19 could reverse hard-won gains in poverty reduction over the past two decades and drive 39 million people into extreme poverty in 2021.
He said the widespread vaccination was recognised as being critical to the economic recovery of African countries.
Nkengasong said that the initiative builds on an earlier collaboration between the MasterCard Foundation and the Africa CDC to expand access to testing kits and enhance surveillance capacity in Africa.
He said that through the foundation’s support, the Africa CDC’s Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) deployed nearly two million tests and more than 12,000 trained health care workers and rapid responders across Africa.
The Director said that the PACT has enabled over 47 million COVID-19 tests across the continent.
