Thirty countries led by Costa Rica and the World Health Organisation have launched an initiative aimed at sharing vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools to tackle the global coronavirus pandemic.

While the developing nations' push, called the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool, was welcomed by groups including Doctors Without Borders, a drug industry alliance questioned if it would really boost collaboration or broaden access to Covid-19 medicines.

The effort aims to provide a one-stop shop for scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property amid the pandemic.

Countries to sign up are Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mozambique, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa, Sudan, the Netherlands, East Timor and Uruguay, the WHO said.