President Paul Kagame has commended the role of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator in supporting countries to respond to the pandemic, and promised Rwanda’s unwavering support to this global effort.
He was speaking on Friday, April 23, 2021 during a virtual event to mark the first anniversary of this initiative.
ACT Accelerator is a groundbreaking global collaboration which was launched in April 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
"For many developing countries, the ACT Accelerator has been the only way to access lifesaving Covid-19 testing kits, vaccines and treatment. As the pandemic continues to evolve, often in an unpredictable manner, much more needs to be done to remove barriers to affordability and equitable distribution,” he said.
In particular, the President said, Africa lags behind in the manufacture of vital products for Covid-19 prevention, and management.
"Efforts are underway to build this capacity. But this requires support across the board to ensure that it’s done properly and quickly enough to make a difference in the ongoing pandemic, and improve preparedness for the next one,” he said.
The President said that Rwanda remains committed to the goals of the ACT Accelerator.
"We will continue to work together with the WHO and other partners to defeat this Covid-19 pandemic,” he observed.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom said that the ACT Accelerator was conceived with two aims namely the rapid development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics; and equitable access to those tools.
"The first objective has been achieved. We now have several safe and effective vaccines to prevent Covid-19; we have rapid diagnostics to test for it; and we have oxygen and dexamethasone to treat it. But we have a long way to go on the second objective,” Tedros said.
"Around the Earth globe, people are dying because they’re not vaccinated, they’re not tested, and they’re not treated,” Tedros indicated.
Among the achievements it has made, it has 190 countries signed up to the COVAX Facility and the Facility has so far shipped over 40 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to more than 100 participating economies (countries).
It aims to deliver 2.5 billion safe and effective doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021.
More support for low-income countries
According to the WHO, of the more than 950 million vaccinations that have been given – just 0.3 percent have been administered in low-income countries.
Testing rates in high-income countries are about 70 times higher than those in low-income countries, leaving many countries blind with little information and current infection rates or the spread of new variants.
Tedros said that the majority low-income countries still have trouble accessing sufficient oxygen and dexamethasone – a drug to treat Covid-19.
"This is the time for all of us to write a new story; a better story that sees nations not as rivals or competitors, but as members of one human family with a common future,” Tredos.
Figures from WHO indicate that Covid-19 has so far 3 million people have died from Covid-19, infections around the world total more than 140 million, over 100 million or more people have been pushed into poverty; while the global economy has lost over US$ 9 trillion.