Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Science dazzles but not enough benefit

June 1, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

One year on, the scientific advances to combat the pandemic have been breathtaking, but the rollout to vulnerable countries is not nearly fast enough.

A year ago, the collective understanding of COVID-19 was limited; there were no rapid tests, no vaccines, and little was known about effective treatments.

April saw the first anniversary of the World Health Organization-led ACT-Accelerator – a scheme to develop and deliver the tests, treatments and vaccines the world needs to fight COVID-19.

Today, rapid diagnostic tests, repurposed treatments and vaccines exist. This scientific progress has been rapid and unprecedented in scale and levels of collaboration.

However, the scheme remains grossly underfunded.

“World leaders face a choice: invest in saving lives by treating the cause of the pandemic everywhere, now, or continue to spend trillions on the consequences with no end in sight,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The explosion of COVID in India has highlighted the weak spot in efforts to control the pandemic – the vulnerability of low- and middle-income countries – which puts the whole world at risk.

“COVID-19 knows no borders,” said WHO Special Envoy, Carl Bildt.

“A new variant from anywhere could unravel progress everywhere, even in a country that has achieved 100 per cent vaccination. The pandemic is still on the rise.

“Only a reinforced global effort to deliver tests, treatments and vaccines to all people everywhere, based on need rather than ability to pay, will bring an end to this pandemic.”

WHO calls for vaccine equity

April 7, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

COVID will not be beaten without global solidarity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on political leaders worldwide “to accelerate the equitable rollout of vaccines in every country, starting with health workers and those at highest risk for COVID-19”.

WHO says this requires the scaling up of vaccine manufacture and “rejecting vaccine nationalism at every turn”.

“Due to unprecedented scientific efforts, vaccines are now being distributed in more than 70 countries across the world, with health workers in those places rightly among the first groups to receive them.

“In the majority of low- and middle-income countries, vaccination has not even started, which is a catastrophe as hospitals fill up.

“We must act swiftly to correct this injustice,” it said.

WHO is championing two initiatives – the COVAX facility and the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.

The COVAX facility is a COVID-19 vaccine and procurement initiative, which aims to ensure poorer countries are able to access doses.

The COVID-19 Tools Accelerator aims to spur the development and distribution of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. It has a financing gap of $27 billion for 2021.

“This is a fraction of the projected global economic cost of up to $9.2 trillion if governments do not ensure developing economies have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.

‘In the majority of low- and middle-income countries, vaccination has not even started which is a catastrophe as hospitals fill up. We must act swiftly to correct this injustice.’ — World Health Organization

US COVID deaths exceed 500,000

April 7, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

Another grim milestone in the world’s richest country as encouraging signs appear elsewhere.

By mid-February, the COVID-19 virus had claimed more than 500,000 lives in the United States after a devastating winter surge, but with signs suggesting that the death rate was beginning to decrease.

The Lancet COVID-19 Commission noted that the US could have averted 40 per cent of the deaths from COVID if the country’s death rates had corresponded with other developed countries.

At the same time, the number of new cases reported worldwide fell 16 per cent in a week, according to the World Health Organization. The number of new deaths reported also fell 10 per cent over the same period.

Five of the six WHO regions of the world reported a double-digit percentage decline in new cases in February, with only the Eastern Mediterranean showing a rise, of 7 per cent.

“This shows that simple public health measures work, even in the presence of variants,” WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said. “What matters now is how we respond to this trend. The fire is not out, but we have reduced its size. If we stop fighting it on any front, it will come roaring back.”

‘The fire is not out, but we have reduced its size. If we stop fighting it on any front, it will come roaring back.’

— WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Getting ready: WHO stockpiles global Ebola vaccine

February 1, 2021 by Rayan Calimlim Leave a Comment

Four leading international health and humanitarian organisations have established a global Ebola vaccine stockpile

The stockpile was created by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, which includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Médecins Sans Frontières, with financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The stockpile will allow countries, with the support of humanitarian organisations, to contain future Ebola epidemics by ensuring timely access to vaccines for populations at risk during outbreaks.

The vaccine has already been administered to more than 350,000 people in Guinea and in the 2018–2020 Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under a protocol for “compassionate use”.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is reminding us of the incredible power of vaccines to save lives from deadly viruses,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“This new stockpile is an excellent example of solidarity, science and cooperation between international organisations and the private sector, to save lives.”

The stockpile is stored in Switzerland and is ready to be shipped to countries for emergency response.

“We know that when it comes to disease outbreaks, preparedness is key. This Ebola vaccine stockpile is a remarkable achievement – one that will allow us to deliver vaccines to those who need them the most, as quickly as possible,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.