A high-level meeting on upscaling the global response to the coronavirus pandemic took place this morning, September 10, 2020. The virtual global meeting was co-hosted by the President of the European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen and the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus.
Prime Minister Dr. the Hon Timothy Harris, as the CARICOM lead head on matters of Health, HIV and Human Resource Development, represented the CARICOM Community.
The objectives of the meeting were:
To align on the plan for the ACT-Accelerator as a key global solution to rapidly end the COVID-19 crisis and restore health systems and global growth;
To concur on the economic rationale for fully financing the ACT-Accelerator including through the use of stimulus funding;
To mobilize political leadership and international support to fully operationalize the shared commitment to global equitable allocation.
Prime Minister Harris was supported at the meeting by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws.
The ACT-Accelerator is the proven exit strategy for the world. Four tools have been identified for successfully controlling COVID-19. These are vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and strengthening of health systems.
Prime Minister Harris told 128 participating countries and organizations that CARICOM wishes to be an active participant in the global response at the political, technical and economic levels, and welcomes its inclusion in the launch of the Council for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A).