G20 pledges to eradicate Ebola, promote economic development

At the end of the first working day of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 15, G20 leaders issued a statement on the fight against Ebola, pledging to mobilize all resources to extinguish this deadly disease.

The statement said the G20 countries are committed to doing all that is necessary to enable current international efforts to eradicate Ebola and address its humanitarian and economic costs in the medium term.

Leaders attending the G20 Summit. (Source: AFP/VNA)

The G20 countries called on countries that have not yet contributed to join the international community in providing financial support, medical staff, skilled and qualified doctors, medical equipment, medicines and treatments to fight the Ebola epidemic.

The statement also called for more efforts by researchers, regulators and pharmaceutical companies to develop safe, effective and affordable diagnostic tools, vaccines and treatments for the disease that has killed more than 5,000 people.

The world leaders also called on the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to continue their strong support for countries affected by the Ebola epidemic, and welcomed the IMF's initiative to provide an additional $300 million in aid, through concessional loans, debt relief and grants, to prevent the spread of Ebola and ease the burden on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries most affected by the deadly disease.

According to official statistics from WHO, there have been 5,177 deaths out of a total of 14,500 Ebola cases in the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Although the number of people infected and dying from Ebola has decreased to date, efforts to prevent the epidemic in many forms are facing many difficulties due to the lack of medical staff as well as equipment, means and medicines for treatment that have not been resolved in the context of the Ebola epidemic still having the risk of spreading widely.

In addition, economic growth, infrastructure investment and ending tax evasion by multinational corporations were also key topics on the first working day of the G20 Summit in Brisbane.

In his opening speech at the Summit, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott pledged to achieve the goal of boosting global economic growth to more than 2% in 2018 and creating more jobs. Mr. Abbott also emphasized the issue of free trade, infrastructure, structural reform and financial consolidation to continue pursuing G20 commitments.

On the first working day, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey held two press conferences, in which he said the focus of this G20 conference was to promote global economic growth.

Mr. Hockey said at the G20 finance ministers' meeting on this occasion, member countries decided to finance the huge infrastructure needs around the world in the next few decades by building better partnerships with the private sector.

The final issue on the summit agenda is to stop large multinational companies from avoiding paying taxes through profit shifting, he said.

In addition, the Ukraine crisis was also a hot topic discussed by G20 leaders on the first day of the meeting.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the conference, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on G20 leaders to focus on addressing youth unemployment, climate change and sustainable development.

The G20 Summit will continue its final working day on November 16./.

According to VNA