Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday called on the international community to boost aid to poor countries, whose health systems and economic development are under threat from the coronavirus pandemic.
"Italy believes it is crucial to increase our aid to the most vulnerable countries," Conte told the concluding session of the World Health Organisation's key decision-making body, the World Health Assembly.
Italy will work towards this goal during its presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) next year, Conte said.
"This crisis risks undermining the historic achievements made to date in the health sectors and derailing our attainment of the (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals and the whole 2030 agenda, especially in Africa," Conte said.
Conte underlined the need for global cooperation, solidarity and responsibility to overcome the "unprecedented" Covid-19 crisis, as well as "rapid alarm mechanisms" and "identification of best practices".
