The WHO is calling on world leaders to invest in the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. According to the WHO, “access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator is the best bet for speeding up the development of the tools we need to save lives as fast as possible, and to make them available for as many as possible, as equitably as possible”.
The Director General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “the current financing gap for the ACT Accelerator stands at US$35 billion.
“US$35 billion is a lot of money. But in the context of arresting a global pandemic and supporting the global economic recovery, it’s a bargain.
“Of the US$35 billion, US$15 billion is needed immediately to fund research and development, scale up manufacturing, secure procurement and strengthen delivery systems.
“We are not asking for an act of charity. We are asking for an investment in the global recovery”.
Dr. Tedros indicated that the investment case illustrates some of the considerable economic benefits from accelerating the development and deployment of tools to rapidly reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 disease globally.
The target of the WHO is for the ACT Accelerator to deliver 2 billion doses of vaccine; 245 million courses of treatment; and 500 million diagnostic tests to low- and middle-income countries by the end of next year.
“The economic benefits from restoring international travel and trade alone would repay this investment very quickly”.
The WHO stated that the diagnostics pillar is evaluating more than 50 tests, including rapid and accurate diagnostics, and they expect to have more news on that next week.
The therapeutics pillar, according to Dr.Tedos, is analysing more than 1,700 clinical trials for promising treatments, and has secured courses of dexamethasone for up to 4.5 million patients in lower-income countries – the only medicine shown to reduce the risk of death so far.
He added that the COVAX, the largest and most varied portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines globally is supporting the development of 9 vaccines, with several more in the pipeline.
“The number of countries joining the COVAX Facility grows every day. As of today, 67 high-income economies have formally joined and another 34 are expected to sign, joining 92 lower-income countries who are eligible for financial support through Gavi”.
Investing in COVAX, WTO stated, increases the probability of being able to access the best vaccine and hedges the risk that countries that have entered into bilateral agreements end up with products that are not viable.
The ACT Accelerator is an unprecedented global effort. Of course, realizing its vision needs investment.
Countries are urged to continue to focus on four essential priorities: prevent amplifying events; protect the vulnerable; educate, empower and enable communities to protect themselves and others, using every tool at their disposal; and to get the basics right: find, isolate, test and care for cases, and trace and quarantine their contacts.
