G20 leaders step up support for COVID-19 (ACT) accelerator, but urgent and urgent action is needed to maintain momentum

World leaders meet today at the Global Health Summit, hosted jointly by the European Commission and Italy as part of the G20 presidency adopt the agenda for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop and support a Rome Declaration principles, at a time when the virus is growing and spreading uncontrollably in many parts of the world.

With nine people losing their lives every minute from COVID-19, and as the risk of even more portable and dangerous variants increases, the Global Health Summit is coming at a critical time. The future of the pandemic is in the hands of G20 leaders.

The ACT-Accelerator was launched just over a year ago in response to the G20’s call for a global mechanism that will accelerate the development of tests, treatments and vaccines and ensure their fair distribution. Host of the World Health Organization, the ACT-Accelerator offers the only multilateral solution to accelerate the completion of the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ACT-Accelerator welcomes the commitments made at the Global Health Summit and will work with countries to rapidly operationalize these promises, both financial and – most importantly – for over 100 million doses of the scarce vaccine. Current financial liabilities are reflected in ACT-Accelerator is an interactive financing tracking tool. However, a significant funding gap remains.

Accelerating the end of the pandemic via ACT-accelerators would cost less than 1% of what governments spend on incentive packages to treat the aftermath of the pandemic. As the economic and social costs of the pandemic continue to escalate, the case for global solidarity is becoming even stronger. The world now needs the G20 to work.

Rome Declaration, announced at the end of the summit, reaffirmed the leader’s support for the ACT accelerator and stressed the need to share the financial burden and bridge the funding gap, in order for the ACT accelerator to fulfill its mandate for fair allocation and delivery of pandemic victory tests, treatments and vaccines. Vitally, the group also emphasized its support for the global exchange of doses of vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) and through COVAX.

Carl Bildt, special envoy for the ACT accelerator and former Swedish prime minister, He said: “Today’s commitments are welcome – but more action is needed now, not in weeks or months, to change the course of the pandemic. Although some countries have gone beyond words, donating vaccines and committing to fully fund the ACT accelerator, further action is needed by G20 and G7 leaders if we are to stop the further spread and mutation of this virus. We are all facing great work. “

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, He said: “We now have the opportunity to correct the global imbalance. First, we need to reduce the $ 18.5 billion gap in ACT accelerator funding. Second, we need countries to immediately donate tens of millions of doses of vaccine through COVAX – which is an agreed global vaccine distribution mechanism. We welcome today’s generous announcements; in the coming weeks and months we will need hundreds of millions more doses. We need companies to help donations happen quickly and for COVAX to get the first deduction right for all unaccepted doses now, 2021. Third, we need to urgently and dramatically increase production of all these tools, through voluntary licensing, sharing technology and know-how , and waiver of intellectual property rights. We are in a critical moment. The creation of the ACT accelerator represents a historic, advanced effort based on the principles of solidarity and justice. Let’s seize the moment and finish starting the business. ”

• Today’s commitments come at a critical point of the pandemic. Only coordinated and rigorous testing to control the spread of the virus, access to life-saving oxygen and dexamethasone and vaccines to protect people – can bring this pandemic under control. The huge difference in access to tests, treatments and vaccines between the richest and poorest countries in the world prolongs the pandemic in all parts of the world. Funding for ACT accelerators would now hasten the end of the pandemic everywhere.
• Test rates in high-income countries are a hundred times higher than rates in low-income countries, contributing to the uncontrolled and uncontrolled spread of the virus. Full funding for the ACT-A diagnostic pillar would significantly increase testing in low- and middle-income countries and build sequencing capacity to ensure that emerging virus variants can be quickly identified and managed.
• High-income countries have administered nearly 100 times more doses of vaccine per capita than low-income countries, leaving millions of health workers and vulnerable populations unprotected in the world’s poorest countries. Full funding Gavi COVAX advance obligations in the market (AMC) and vaccine sharing through the ACT-A COVAX Facility would protect 27% of the population in AMC92 countries by the end of 2021.
• Drastic inadequate oxygen supply risks millions of lives around the world. Full funding for the ACT-A therapy pillar would save up to 4 million lives by delivering life-saving oxygen to those most in need, and funding research into new treatments to fight the disease.
• Health systems in many countries are unprepared for the introduction of the COVID-19 tool, and health workers in low- and middle-income countries are often unprotected due to a lack of PPE. Full funding of health system connectors would protect 2 million health workers on the front lines in LICs of personal protective equipment stocks and help prepare health systems for the introduction of tools to combat COVID-19.

Global solidarity against COVID-19 is not just the right thing to do. It is the fastest and most effective way to defeat a pandemic and get all our lives and economies back to normal.

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Notes to editors

Access COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a proven, global collaboration that accelerates the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines. It was established in response to a call from G20 leaders in March and was launched by the WHO, the European Commission, France and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.

The ACT-Accelerator is not a decision-making body nor is it a new organization, but works to accelerate the joint efforts of existing organizations to stop a pandemic. It is a collaborative framework designed to bring key players together at the table with a view to ending the pandemic as quickly as possible through accelerated development, equitable distribution and expanded delivery of tests, treatment and vaccines, protecting system health and rebuilding societies and economies in the short term. It draws on the experience of the world’s leading health organizations, which deal with the most difficult health challenges in the world and which, by working together, can unlock new and more ambitious results against COVID-19. Its members are committed to providing all people with access to all the tools needed to win COVID-19 and working with unprecedented levels of partnership to achieve it.

The ACT-Accelerator consists of four pillars: diagnostics, therapy, vaccines, and health system strengthening.

• The diagnostic pillar, convened jointly by the Global Fund and FIND, focuses on ensuring equal access to new and existing tests, supporting acceptance and introduction into countries, and strengthening the diagnostic portfolio by investing in cheap, easy-to-use and quality testing research and development. In 2021, it focuses on the procurement and distribution of at least 900 million molecular and antigen rapid tests to low- and middle-income countries.
• Therapeutic pillar of water Unitaid and Wellcome. Therapists can play a role in all stages of COVID-19 disease: to prevent infection; suppress symptoms and spread the infection to others; treat or prevent symptoms; as a life-saving treatment for severe symptoms; and as a treatment that can speed recovery. The goal is to develop, manufacture and distribute millions of doses of treatment over the next 12 months, helping COVID-19 sufferers recover from the disease.
• The vaccine pillar, convened by CEPI, Gavi and the WHO, is accelerating the search for an effective vaccine for all countries. At the same time, it supports capacity building and buys supplies ahead of time so that at least 2 billion doses can be fairly distributed to the world’s most prominent and highly exposed populations by the end of 2021.
• The Health Systems Connector Pillar, led by the World Bank, Global Fund, and WHO, works to ensure that these tools can reach the people who need them.
• Intersecting all is a workflow of access and allocation, led by the WHO.

As of April 2020, ACT-Accelerator supports the fastest, most coordinated, and most successful global efforts in history to develop and deploy tools to combat the new disease. With significant advances in research and development by academia, the private sector, and government initiatives, ACT-Accelerator has enhanced our understanding of what works in the fight against disease. It has transformed our ability to fight COVID-19 globally: vaccines are being introduced worldwide, cheap antigen rapid diagnostic tests can now detect transmission anywhere, affordable therapies for serious diseases can save lives in any environment, and health systems are being strengthened to helped introduce these tools.