Coronavirus Global Response: Access to COVID-19 Tools-Accelerator Facilitation Council holds inaugural meeting

<ul><li>United Nations Secretary General António Guterres appeals for a quantum leap in funding for the ACT-Accelerator, a global solution to get the world moving, working and prospering again</li><li>H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, and H.E. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, co-chair the ACT-Acceleration Facilitation Council</li><li>Global leaders – including over 30 heads of state and ministers – release <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/10-09-2020-statement-from-the-first-act-accelerator-facilitation-council-meeting">statement of commitment</a> to galvanizing support for the ACT-Accelerator and the need for the financial resources required to leave no one behind</li><li>ACT-Accelerator calculates that $35 billion is still required to give all countries the tools needed to end the pandemic as quickly as possible  </li></ul>Today Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, and Dr Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, co-hosted the inaugural meeting of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Facilitation Council. The meeting was co-chaired
by H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and H.E. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway and included a keynote address from the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The ACT-Accelerator is the proven, up-and-running, global collaboration accelerating the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.  It was launched on 24 April 2020 by WHO with the European Commission, France and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and supported by the UN Secretary-General and multiple Heads of Government, it is already delivering substantial returns; over
170 countries are engaged in the new COVID-19 Vaccine Facility and ten candidate vaccines are under evaluation, 9 of them in clinical trials, giving the largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio in the world. Investing in the ACT-Accelerator’s multilateral approach increases the chance of success for all countries by giving access to a greater number of tools more quickly, as well as sharing the costs, and mitigating the risks of, R&D. A total of
US$35 billion is still needed for the ACT-Accelerator to realise its goals of producing 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests.  Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: "Nearly 5 000 lives are lost each day due to COVID-19 and the global economy is expected to contract by trillions of dollars this year. The case for investing to end the pandemic has never been
stronger. The ACT-Accelerator is the best way to ensure equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, but at present is facing a financing gap of US$35 billion. Fully financing the ACT-Accelerator would shorten the pandemic and pay back
this investment rapidly as the global economy recovers". Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Today’s launch of the Facilitation Council brings us closer to our global goal: access to coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments for everyone who needs them, anywhere.
The EU will use all its convening power to help keep the world united against coronavirus. With the chairmanship of Norway and South Africa representing the global North and South, and the expertise of the WHO and our international partners, no country
or region will be left behind in this fight.”  UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said: “We now need US$35 billion more to go from set-up to scale and impact. There is a real urgency in these numbers. Without an infusion of US$15 billion over the next 3 months, beginning immediately,
we will lose the window of opportunity”. H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, said: "It is essential that humanity should have a sense that if and when a vaccine is developed, all countries, including my own continent, Africa, should benefit and not be left behind. Humanity requires
that a vaccine should be regarded as a public good to benefit all. We cannot achieve universal health coverage when a COVID-19 vaccine is available only to countries that are well-resourced”. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda noted: “This is certainly one of the most important initiatives underway in the world today and perhaps ever”. He added “The difference between success and failure lies in building a robust public health
infrastructure that can confront any health issue in a sustainable manner. Solid health systems combined with transformational partnerships such as this Accelerator are critical.” H.E Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway said: “The ACT-Accelerator has already achieved impressive results. The world has shown that it is able to come together at a time of crisis. Norway will work tirelessly to ensure that common interests
are established and followed, and that all countries and actors are listened to, so that we can maximize our result together.” Today’s meeting was held at a crucial pivot point for the ACT-Accelerator as it reviewed an updated strategy and investment case for its scale-up phase. The document will be finalised by 17 September 2020 with publication soon after. The UN Secretary-General
has confirmed a high-level event will take place on 30 September 2020 at the forthcoming General Assembly. The role of the Council is to facilitate the work of the ACT-Accelerator through political leadership and advocacy for collective solutions in the global interest, and for the mobilization of additional resources. Membership of the Council is made up of representatives of the European Commission, World Health Organization, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, South Africa. Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, Tuvala, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. In addition the Council includes the Wellcome Trust, the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the
WHO Special Envoys for ACT-A, Civil Society representatives and industry representatives. <h3>Notes to Editors </h3>The Access to COVID-19 Tools ACT-Accelerator, is the proven, up-and-running global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. It was set up in response to a call from G20
leaders in March and launched by the WHO, European Commission, France and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020. The ACT-Accelerator is not a decision-making body or a new organization, but works to speed up collaborative efforts among existing organizations to end the pandemic. It is a framework for collaboration that has been designed to bring key players around
the table with the goal of ending the pandemic as quickly as possible through the accelerated development, equitable allocation, and scaled up delivery of tests, treatments and vaccines, thereby protecting health systems and restoring societies and
economies in the near term. It draws on the experience of leading global health organizations which are tackling the world’s toughest health challenges, and who, by working together, are able to unlock new and more ambitious results against
COVID-19. Its members share a commitment to ensure all people have access to all the tools needed to defeat COVID-19 and to work with unprecedented levels of partnership to achieve it.  The ACT-Accelerator has four areas of work: diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines and the health system connector. Cross-cutting all of these is the workstream on Access & Allocation.  <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator">Find out more</a>