Global health, industry, and nonprofit leaders joined this week in pledging support to defeat COVID-19, uniting them in a virtual event that recommitted to the accelerated development and delivery of vaccines, tests, and treatments.
“We will only halt COVID-19 through solidarity,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, said. “Countries, health partners, manufacturers, and the private sector must act together and ensure that the fruits of science and research can benefit everybody.”
Attendees of the event — co-hosted by the WHO, President of France, President of the European Commission and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — included the UN Secretary General, the AU Commission Chairperson, the G20 President, the leadership of France, South Africa, Germany, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Italy, Rwanda, Norway, Spain, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, and health leaders from such groups as Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI-the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund and UNITAID, among many others.
As part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, all agreed to the same goal: warding the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 and launching a collaboration to protect as much human life as possible. The latter prompted a pledge to unbiased global access — a united front for advancing health.
To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has infected nearly 3 million people worldwide and killed more than 200,000. ACT is a codifying and statement of purpose for what has already been an unprecedented global work effort — global trials are being coordinated for COVID-19 therapeutics and the WHO has worked with researchers and organizations across traditional borders to develop and test vaccines, standardize regulatory approaches, prequalify diagnostics and find the best vaccine candidates possible. But most importantly, ACT means that when solutions are found, much of the world will be able to benefit, rather than some benefiting while others are left behind, as in the early days of HIV treatment.
“The establishment of the ACT Accelerator is a watershed moment in the world coming together to develop a global exit strategy from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, one of the Accelerator’s founding members. “Everyone must have access to the tools and countermeasures, including vaccines that we will develop through the ACT accelerator. Today, there is hope. By bringing together the collective strength, resources, and expertise of the institutions that will contribute to the ACT accelerator, we can end this pandemic together. CEPI is proud to be part of this global collaborative effort.”
The effort, already the product of a push from Europe, is being further buoyed by a European Union-led worldwide pledging marathon to raise an initial €7.5 billion ($8.1 million) beginning May 4, as funding to fight the pandemic.