Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at a virtual international fundraiser on Saturday that Canada will contribute $300 million toward the global effort to battle COVID-19.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the new funds will go toward ensuring equitable access to medical treatments. 1:12
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Canada will contribute $300 million toward the international effort to battle COVID-19.
He announced the new funds Saturday morning at another virtual international fundraiser — this one sponsored by an organization, Global Citizen, that is trying to raise $42.8 billion.
Trudeau said Canada will contribute $180 million to address the immediate humanitarian and development impacts of the pandemic, with a focus on essential food security, nutrition and education initiatives.
It will also contribute $120 million toward a new initiative called the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which was created in April by the World Health Organization, the French government, the European Commission and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to ensure equitable access to medical treatments.
The ACT Accelerator supports organizations, health professionals and businesses in their efforts to develop a vaccine, as well as drug therapies and diagnostic tools to battle the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has changed the lives of people everywhere and it has highlighted inequalities around the world,” Trudeau said in a statement to the virtual fundraiser. “We have an opportunity to change that.”
Canadian aid agencies and advocacy groups say the contribution will be only a fraction of what is eventually needed to fight the pandemic and to ensure that when a vaccine is developed, it reaches poor countries that don’t have the ability to pay for it.
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