Covid-19: G7 health chiefs to discuss vaccine sharing, animal diseases

London - Ministers to pledge at a meeting in Oxford to combat future health threats by working together

The G7 health ministers will meet Thursday to discuss sharing vaccines with poorer countries and improving identification of animal-borne infections ahead of next week's summit in the United Kingdom.

Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States will pledge at a meeting in Oxford to "combat future health threats by working together to identify early warning signs from animals and the environment," the British government said.

They will agree a "new international approach" to prevent diseases spreading, since three-fifths of all infections jump from animals to humans, Britain's health ministry said.

The meeting comes as the world's wealthiest countries face pressure to do more to help vaccines reach poorer countries that do not have enough stocks for comprehensive inoculation programmes.

The British government has just published a new report on G7 progress since 2015 on helping developing countries access vaccines and contain the spread of infections.

The G7 countries are already committed to support the Covax global vaccine sharing programme.

British health minister Matt Hancock on Wednesday said over half a billion doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine had been released for supply globally, mostly in "low- and middle-income countries".

But calls are mounting for wealthier countries to share more.