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 The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator budgeted $23.4
billion for its efforts from October 2021 to September 2022, of
which it hoped $16.8 billion would come in the form of grants from
richer countries.
However, so far it has had just $814 million pledged, leaders of the
initiative told a media briefing on Tuesday. In addition to the WHO,
the project is backed by organizations including the Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, The Global Fund, and the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. "That's just a minuscule 5% of what we
require. It is time to awaken the conscience of the world,” said the
WHO's global ambassador for health financing, Gordon Brown, a former
British prime minister.
On Wednesday, a number of world leaders are set to support publicly
the push for more funding, calling for the investment to end the
emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
The ACT-Accelerator hub encompasses the COVAX initiative, which has
focused on equitable access to vaccines. It also involves providing
tests and treatments to low and middle-income countries, as well as
personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.
Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO official who acts as coordinator for the
initiative, said it was stuttering due to a lack of funds.
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 "The global response is running on fumes," he
said.
The lack of funding has been apparent since the
start of the pandemic. The gap for the project's
previous budget was $14.5 billion. Partners said
the majority of funding so far had gone into
COVID-19 vaccines, leaving the other goals –
tests, treatments, and PPE – short.
Even so, the initiative has fallen well short of
its goal to deliver 2 billion COVID vaccines in
2021, with only 10% of people in low-income
countries having received at least one dose of a
vaccine, compared to almost 68% in richer
countries, according to WHO data.
Brown called for countries to fund the
initiative under a "fair share" model based on
the size of their own economies, which he said
resembled how nations commit to funding United
Nations peacekeeping forces.
(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing
by Aurora Ellis)
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