Accelerator update

Today, Access to the COVID-19 Tool Accelerator announced its consolidated investment case, along with the cost plans of member organizations.

Launched in late April 2020 at an event hosted by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, the President of France, the President of the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACT-accelerator brings together governments, health organizations, scientists, businesses, civil society and philanthropists. joined forces to hasten the end of the pandemic.

Since the ACT accelerator was launched, partner organizations have made rapid progress in developing cost-effective plans that could be designed to contribute to ending the pandemic by accelerating development, equitable distribution, and increased delivery of new tools to rapidly reduce mortality and serious illness. protecting health systems and restoring full social and economic activity globally in the short term, and enabling a high level of control of COVID-19 disease in the medium term.

ACT-Accelerator investment case and cost plans

The case of the ACT accelerator investment and the plans published by the organizations leading each of the “pillars” show the way to accelerated development, fair allocation and increased delivery of 500 million diagnostic tests to LMICs by mid-2021, 245 million courses by mid-2021 LMIC treatment and two billion doses of vaccine, 50% of which will go to LMICs by the end of 2021.

To achieve this, the plans paid today require $ 31.3 billion in funding for diagnostics, therapy and vaccines, of which $ 3.4 billion has been allocated so far.[2], Therefore, an additional $ 27.9 billion is needed, including $ 13.7 billion to cover current needs (i.e., $ 17.1 billion is needed immediately, of which $ 3.4 billion is pledged).

The investment required is significant, but pale in importance compared to the cost of COVID-19: the total cost of operating an ACT accelerator is less than a tenth of what the IMF estimates the global economy is losing each month due to pandemics. 468,000 people have already lost their lives.

Developed tools will benefit the whole world; ACT-accelerator poles will also purchase and deliver tools to ensure that LMICs have access.

An investment case of an ACT accelerator is available here.

ACT accelerator columns

The ACT accelerator is guided by the work of partner organizations cooperating within four pillars.

The diagnostic pillar is managed by FIND and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and aims to save 9 million lives and avoid 1.6 billion further infections through the power of equal access to simple, accurate and cost-effective tests. With sufficient funding, it can deliver 2-3 high-quality rapid tests, train 10,000 health professionals in 50 countries, and establish testing for 500 million people in low- and middle-income countries. Its success will be determined by how quickly testing, monitoring and isolation strategies can be put in place to minimize disruption to health services and prepare states for the effective introduction of drugs and vaccines when available. An investment case is available here.

The therapeutic pillar is run by Unitaid and the Wellcome Trust (on behalf of COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator) and seeks to accelerate the development and equitable delivery of treatments at all stages of the disease, ensuring that they are available to all, regardless of geography and economic resource level. The goal is the development, production, procurement and equitable distribution of 245 million exchange rates for the population in low- and middle-income countries within 12 months. An investment case is available here.

The vaccine pillar, combines CEPI’s leadership in vaccine development and investment in manufacturing, and GAVI’s success in a revolutionary approach and delivery, and WHO’s oversight of regulation, policy and allocation. Its role is to ensure that vaccines are developed as quickly as possible, produced in the right quantities without compromising safety, and delivered to those who need them most. The current estimate that two billion doses will be delivered by the end of 2021, assuming a safe and effective vaccine will be developed in the near future, is up to $ 18.1 billion. In addition, 950 million doses will need to be procured to self-financing high-income and upper-middle-income countries through the COVAX instrument. These numbers will become clearer when we have a better insight into, among other factors, the technology on which successful vaccine candidates will be based and the number of doses required to protect humans from COVID-19. An investment case is available here.

The Health Systems Connector is the fourth pillar of the ACT-Accelerator and supports the other three by ensuring that health systems and local community networks can take full advantage of these and other essential tools in their fight against COVID-19. This pillar is run by the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and is supported by the WHO. It aims to build the capacity – such as laboratory capacity, training for laboratory and health personnel and the management of health workers’ protective equipment – needed to effectively implement new tools when they are ready. It also works on system innovations to complement product introduction, such as access to contact search, access to social distance and isolation, and community engagement needed to maintain them. Global health security and the fight against COVID-19 depend on the shortening of health systems around the world.

Call to action

Since its launch, many governments and companies have announced their commitment to the ACT accelerator and have committed themselves financially. To date, the contributing Member States have provided a total of $ 3.4. The funding gap is $ 27.9 billion.

June 27 Global Goal: Unite for our future, the campaign, concert and top will call on citizens to face global injustices using our collective voice to drive change for all, everywhere. World leaders, corporations and philanthropists will announce new commitments to help develop a fair distribution of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, as well as rebuild communities devastated by the pandemic. Unite with Global Citizen, the European Commission, top artists and world leaders to stop COVID-19, build equality for all and fight for the world we want. Connection: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/connect/globalgoalunite/

Notes to editors

Access to COVID-19 tools The ACT accelerator is a new revolutionary global collaboration aimed at accelerating the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapy and vaccines. It was established as an invitation to G20 leaders in March and was launched by the WHO, EC, France and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.

The ACT accelerator is not a decision-making body or a new organization, but acts to accelerate the joint efforts of existing organizations to end the pandemic. It is a collaborative framework designed to end key players around the table in ending the pandemic as quickly as possible by reducing mortality and severe COVID-19 disease through accelerated development, equitable distribution and reduced delivery of vaccines, therapies and diagnostics, thus protects the health system and rebuilds societies and economies. It draws on the experience of the world’s leading health organizations dealing with the world’s most severe health challenges and which, working together, can uncover new and more ambitious results against COVID-19. Its members share a commitment to provide all people with access to all the tools needed to defeat COVID-19 and to work at unprecedented levels of partnership to achieve it.

The ACT accelerator has four areas of operation: diagnostics, therapy, vaccines, and the health system connection. All of the above is all a workflow on access and assignment.

[2] The deadline is 18 months for the vaccine pole.

See for more information ACT Accelerator.