Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to join Hope Consortium Summit

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be joining the World Health Organisation and the drug firm Novavax at an inaugural summit being held by the Abu Dhabi Consortium from March 29.

The two-day virtual event has been organised by the Abu Dhabi led public-private partnership responsible for the mass distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the global population.

Called the World Immunisation & Logistics Summit, it will bring together more than 1,000 senior decision-makers leading the collective efforts against the pandemic.

They will discuss the logistical challenges associated with vaccine transport and distribution, from production to patient, with the aim of finding scalable, real-world solutions to achieving mass delivery and vaccination.

The delegates will tackle key logistical and technological challenges facing global supply chains and associated emerging trends, including the rise of vaccine nationalism.

A virtual exhibition alongside the summit will offer attendees one-to-one networking and interactive exhibition booths to engage with key local and international stakeholders.

Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, Chairman, HOPE Consortium Executive Committee, said, "The World Immunisation & Logistics Summit is part of Abu Dhabi’s continuous efforts in the global fight against COVID-19, and is a clarion call to the global community, key public and private sector leaders and experts to join hands in solving the largest and most complex logistical effort ever to be undertaken in human history.

"As we pass the pandemic’s one-year mark, it is incumbent on the international health and logistics players to overcome this enormous challenge through an open forum that brings about scalable, sustainable and equitable vaccine distribution solutions, delivering help and hope to all those in need.

"The global community is united in its need for solutions and through this summit, Abu Dhabi and the HOPE Consortium are seeking to leverage the power of human will and ingenuity to combat the virus and draw the COVID-19 era to a close."

The Hope Consortium, an #AbuDhabi-led public-private partnership delivering large quantities of Covid-19 vaccines globally, will host the World Immunisation and Logistics Summit virtually from 29-30 March. pic.twitter.com/Ee0TV9F4J1

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) March 10, 2021