Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, has said countries across the world have largely failed to provide adequate global support to help India fight the ongoing crisis of the second wave of Covid-19 and asserted that the rich countries should assume more responsibilities to lend a helping hand.
“The only way that you’re going to adequately respond to a global pandemic is by having a global response, and a global response means equity throughout the world,” according to media reports on Wednesday.
“And that’s something that, unfortunately, has not been accomplished. Often when you have diseases in which there is a limited amount of intervention, be it therapeutic or prevention, this is something that all the countries that are relatively rich countries or countries that have a higher income have to pay more attention to.”
At least 17 countries have so far announced to help India. They range from the neighbors to the major powers in the world. While Bhutan is going to supply oxygen, the US might be able to share AstraZeneca vaccines next month. President Joe Biden has already assured all possible help to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Among the countries sending support to India are the US, UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Australia, Bhutan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE.
“The United States has really revved up their activity in helping out India … we’re sending oxygen, remdesivir, personal protective equipment, a variety of other medications, and soon we’ll be sending vaccines to help out,” Dr. Fauci said.
“So, I think that that’s a responsibility that the rich countries need to assume. Right now, it’s a terribly tragic situation where people are dying because there’s not enough oxygen, where there are not enough hospital beds. We have to try, looking forward, to get as much equity when it comes to public health issues as we possibly can,” he added.
“Because we’re all in this together. It’s an interconnected world. And there are responsibilities that countries have to each other, particularly if you’re a wealthy country and you’re dealing with countries that don’t have the resources or capabilities that you have,” said Dr. Fauci.
Once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives its concurrence in the coming weeks, the US is likely to release nearly 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The UK had announced to send 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators, and 20 manual ventilators, to India this week. Of these, 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators arrived on April 27, media reports said.