[ad_1]
The World Health Organization (WHO) held today, September 10, 2020, in its first high-level meeting of the Facilitation Council of the “Accelerator of access tools to COVID-19” (ACT-A), elected South Africa and the Kingdom of Norway to co-chair the newly established Council.
President Ramaphosa accepted the co-chairmanship on behalf of South Africa and described it as an honor bestowed on the country.
ACT-A was launched on April 24, 2020 and received political and financial support through global pledging events on May 4 and June 27. It has already established a dynamic portfolio of vaccine candidates, has launched a global facility to optimize vaccine development and use, and has begun rolling out the first proven therapy for serious diseases.
ACT-A is an international collaboration between a diverse representation of global leaders and partners to accelerate the development, production, and equitable deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics.
This collaboration has also identified a potentially revolutionary rapid test and established a framework for the equitable allocation of these products globally.
The Facilitation Council, which adopted its Terms of Reference today, will work to address ACT-A challenges and galvanize global leadership to enable access to COVID-19 tools for all countries.
“As South Africa and on behalf of the African Union, we look forward to this cooperation and working with all states and partners to achieve our collective goals of defeating COVID-19,” said President Ramaphosa.
