In order to rapidly respond to the spread of virus CoVid-19, the European Commission supports member-states and strengthens its global efforts.

A part of this new aid package worth €232 million will be allocated immediately to different sectors, while the rest will be released in the next months. Following the developments in Italy, the Commission is stepping up its support to Member States in the context of the on-going work on preparedness, contingency and response planning.

New EU funding will help detect and diagnose the disease, care for infected people and prevent further transmission at this critical time.

Out of the €232 million aid package:

• €114 million will support the World Health Organization (WHO), in particular the global preparedness and response global plan. This intends to boost public health emergency preparedness and response work in countries with weak health systems and limited resilience. Part of this funding is subject to the agreement of the EU budgetary authorities.
• €15 million are planned to be allocated in Africa, including to the Institute Pasteur Dakar, Senegal to support measures such as rapid diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance.
• €100 million will go to urgently needed research related to diagnostics, therapeutics and prevention, including €90 million through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a partnership between the EU and the pharmaceutical industry. *
• €3 million allocated to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for repatriation flights of EU citizens from Wuhan, China.