The African Union Chair and President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, will today co-chair the World Health Organisation’s first high-level meeting of the Facilitation Council of the “Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator” (ACT-A).
President Ramaphosa will co-chair the virtual high-level meeting at 12h30 alongside Ema Solberg, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway.
The meeting will formally launch the ACT-A Facilitation Council, which is an international collaboration among a diverse representation of global leaders and partners to accelerate the development, production and equitable deployment of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for COVID-19.
ACT-A was launched on 24 April 2020 and provided with political and financial support through global pledging events on 4 May and 27 June 2020.
ACT-A has already established a dynamic portfolio of vaccine candidates, launched a global facility to optimise vaccine development and use, and started a rollout of the first proven therapy for severe disease.
This collaboration has also identified a potentially game-changing rapid test and established a framework for equitable allocation of these products globally.
The Facilitation Council, which is expected to be formally established today and adopt Terms of Reference, will work to address key challenges and galvanise global leadership to enable for access to COVID-19 tools for all countries. – SAnews.gov.za
