LONDON: A leading global health fund has asked international businesses and governments to provide US$8 billion to support development and production of COVID-19 tests, drugs and vaccines.
"This is a global issue that will continue to plague the world and businesses for months, if not years, to come," said Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome's director. Wellcome says that US$2 billion of the initial US$8 billion needed would be used to help poorer and more vulnerable countries to build a stockpile of masks, medicines and other defences against future outbreaks.The COVID-19 disease pandemic has triggered a sharp downturn in an already slowing global economy and sparked a rout across financial markets, wiping about US$15 trillion from stock markets alone.
A Reuters snap poll of more 50 economists in North America, Europe and Asia over Apr 1-3 showed that the global economy is expected to contract by 1.2 per cent this year, compared with a forecast of 1.6 per cent expansion in a poll three weeks ago.
That pales in comparison to the Singapore government S$59.9 billion response to the disease