$100 Million Gates Foundation Commitment Focused on Stopping the 2019-nCoV Outbreak

The Seatle based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it will immediately commit up to $100 million dollars for the global response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Announced on February 5, 2020, this new funding will help strengthen detection, isolation and treatment efforts, protect at-risk populations, and develop vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics.

The new funding is inclusive of the $10 million committed the Foundation made in late January 2020.

The release of fast and flexible funding is intended to help multilateral organizations and national public health authorities rapidly scale up their virus detection capabilities and implement disease modeling analytics.

“Multilateral organizations, national governments, the private sector, and philanthropies must work together to slow the pace of the outbreak, help countries protect their most vulnerable citizens and accelerate the development of the tools to bring this epidemic under control,” said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman, in a press release.

“Our hope is that these resources will help catalyze a rapid and effective international response. This response should be guided by science, not fear, and it should build on the steps that the World Health Organization has taken to date.”

The Gates Foundation will immediately commit up to $20 million to accelerate the detection, isolation, and treatment of people diagnosed with the virus with the goal of interrupting transmission and containing the disease.

This funding will be directed to multilateral organizations such as WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Support will also be directed to national public health authorities in China and other countries that have reported confirmed cases. Current national-level partners include the National Health Commission of China and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

This funding is intended to help public health authorities cover the initial cost of labor and supplies while international agencies and national governments appropriate the resources necessary to fund ongoing operations.

Additionally, the Foundation will commit up to $60 million to accelerate the discovery, development, and testing of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics for 2019-nCoV.

If 2019-nCoV transmission continues for several months or more, safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics will be needed to help sustain long-term approaches to disease control and to prevent severe disease and deaths.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Coronavirus news is published by Coronavirus Today.