WHO will hold a public webinar on 18 December to update on activities in the area of COVID-19 treatments, and foster continued collaboration on the development of and access to safe, effective and affordable COVID-19 therapies.
As of 8 December 2020, there were almost 70 million reported cases of COVID-19. The pandemic has so far claimed more than 1.5 million lives and many areas of the world are experiencing a resurgence in cases. Increasingly, there are reports of patients suffering from prolonged symptoms and, in some cases, multi-system complications.
With over 2 100 trials registered for COVID-19 potential treatments, systemic corticosteroids (such as dexamethasone) are the only class of medicines to demonstrate some benefits, saving the lives of about one third of patients with severe or critical disease in a large clinical trial.
In addition, with no proven therapy yet for patients with mild or moderate disease, finding effective, safe, affordable and accessible therapeutics to reduce mortality and morbidity remains an urgent priority. This urgency will continue, even after deployment of vaccines, likely for years to come.
The webinar will explain how WHO and partners aim to optimize access to COVID-19 therapeutics through an efficient and integrated approach incorporating multiple rigorous processes and activities. An important aspect of this work is carried out by the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Therapeutics Pillar, led by UNITAID and the Wellcome Trust. The Pillar aims to provide COVID-19 therapeutics quickly and to scale in low- and middle-income countries, to reduce morbidity and mortality while vaccine coverage is deployed and scaled up. As part of the ACT-A, WHO leads the work on an equitable access framework for therapeutics.
Since the start of the pandemic, WHO and ACT-A partners have made significant progress. Building on achievements to date, the webinar will sketch out future plans to ensure fit-for-purpose strategies and decisions related to COVID-19 therapeutics in the short, medium and long term.
For further information: hps@who.int