Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, said:
“Huge strides have been made in the last year. We now have the
first set of tools to save lives and end this crisis. But science
only works if it reaches society. The world remains in the grip
of a devastating pandemic – and it is not slowing, only
escalating. There must be no further delays to getting Covid-19
vaccines, tests and treatments to the most vulnerable groups
everywhere.
“We are in desperate need of strong global leadership. Wealthy
countries with access to surplus vaccine doses must start sharing
these with the rest of the world now through COVAX, alongside
national rollouts. And they should urgently set out a timetable
for how these donations will be increased as they vaccinate more
of their populations.
“Controlling the pandemic everywhere is our only way of growing
economies, saving lives and restoring livelihoods. If we fail to
drive down transmission globally at this critical moment, we will
all ultimately suffer.”
Wellcome has been working with researchers and clinicians
across the world, to highlight the urgent need for fair access to
Covid-19 tools. Professor Rashida Ferrand set up the
Covid unit for one of Zimbabwe’s largest hospitals. ICU
specialist Dr Charlotte Summers has been on the frontline of the
UK’s Covid-19 response.
Rashida Ferrand, Professor of International Health at the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said:
“We have made such important progress on how to best care for
Covid-19 patients. We’ve seen seriously ill patients get better
after using dexamethasone, but we still urgently need treatments
that can stop the disease from progressing. Thanks to the
incredible global research effort, we can now confidently stop
patients from taking drugs that have been proven ineffective.”
Dr Charlotte Summers, Reader in Intensive Care Medicine
at the University of Cambridge, said:
“The pandemic is far from over. In the UK, things are currently
better than they were at the start of the year, but other
countries are under tremendous pressure. It’s essential that we
quickly and fairly distribute vaccines, tests and treatments to
those most in need around the world.
“Despite having a range of effective vaccines, global supply for
2021 is extremely limited. We still urgently need a range of
medicines to treat those who get sick. The ultimate treatment
strategy would be to give a medicine that clears the virus early
on, before the disease progresses. Covid-19 can affect all parts
of the body, so we need treatments that prevent severe disease
and hospitalisation.
“The pandemic has highlighted the inequitable availability of
oxygen, treatments, vaccinations and diagnostics that have been
killing people for years. We cannot allow this to continue, even
when the pandemic has faded.”
-ENDS-
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