“The world needs these tools, and it needs them quickly,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, when the initiative was launched.
According to Dr. Tedros, past experience has shown that even when tools are available for diseases, they are not available to everyone. “We cannot allow this to happen,” he said. “Our common commitment is to guarantee everyone access to all the tools to defeat the Covid-19,” he added.
A clear message that supported the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, during the presentation of the ACT Accelerator initiative. “We don’t need a vaccine or treatments for a country or a region or half the world, but an affordable vaccine, treatment, safe, effective, easily administered and universally available, for everyone, everywhere,” said the head of the UN.
Research and development play a central role in the fight against the coronavirus. Since January, WHO has been working with thousands of researchers around the world to accelerate and monitor the development of vaccines. The UN agency has also developed diagnostics that are used around the world and is coordinating a global trial on the safety and effectiveness of four therapies for Covid-19.
Partnership with the private sector
To accelerate the development, production and equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapies, WHO has partnered with several partners, including from the private, scientific and humanitarian sectors. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and the International Drug Purchase Organization UNITAID are some of the organizations that have joins the ACT Accelerator initiative.
This partnership aims to capitalize on the work, expertise and resources of each organization to achieve results faster and more efficiently.
“Data must be shared, production capacity prepared, resources mobilized, communities engaged and politics put aside,” insisted Mr. Guterres, stressing that a world free of Covid-19 requires “the effort of the most massive public health in history ”. Words echoed by Dr. Tedros as the world celebrates International Multilateralism Day on April 24. “We cannot work alone,” said the head of the WHO.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the ACT Accelerator partnership, which he said should help the countries and communities most vulnerable to the coronavirus. “Anything we do against the Covid-19 cannot be effective if we don’t have that support. This is the role of WHO, “said the French head of state when launching the initiative.
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