Category: Resource Centre – Media & Press

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

What is the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, how is it structured and how does it work?

The ACT-Accelerator has supported the most rapid and coordinated effort in world history to develop tools to fight disease.

How the the ACT-Accelerator works

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a time-limited global collaboration designed to rapidly use existing global public health infrastructure and expertise to accelerate the rollout of COVID-19 diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines globally and overcome inequities in low- and middle-income countries.

What does the ACT-Accelerator do?

The ACT-Accelerator focuses on development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines.

Launched in April 2020, it has supported the most rapid and coordinated effort in world history to develop tools to fight disease. 

Now, ACT-Accelerator is expanding to provide access to COVID-19 tools globally. 

Who is involved?

The ACT-Accelerator brings together expertise from several global health institutions, academic researchers, policymakers, regulators, the private sector, including research and development, the manufacturing industry, and those working on market shaping, procurement and delivery.

How does it work?

The ACT-Accelerator focuses on vaccination, diagnostics and treatment.

The Diagnostics Pillar is co-convened by the FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics (FIND) and the Global Fund, focusing on the needs of low- and middle-income countries in their fight against COVID-19.

World partners
WHO leads programmes on regulatory policy, product procurement, allocation, and country access and support. The organization also supports research and development. 

The Health Systems Connector (HSC) works across the three product pillars. It is co-convened by the Global Fund, the World Bank, and WHO, with support from The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents (GFF). 

What are the ACT-Accelerator’s goals?

To identify and address country-specific issues that delay the rollout of tests, vaccines or treatments and ensure that there is sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) available to health workers.

Categories
Add Resources - Manufacturing Resource Centre - Media & Press

Africa CDC, FIND Partner to Build Capacity for COVID-19 Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Africa

New partnership to prepare for rapid antigen testing in Africa

On September 11, 2022 the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced a new partnership to prepare for the introduction of new high quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests for Covid-19 over the next three years.

Fast and reliable testing has emerged as a cornerstone of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic but has only sometimes been available to African countries during the pandemic. 

Access to diagnostics also presents a significant hurdle in the fight against Covid-19 and other diseases, including TB and malaria.

Regulatory interventions have smoothed out the supply of accurate and fast antigen tests, but it has now become necessary to build capacity to ensure a speedy rollout.

While there have always been global inequities in accessing diagnostics, these became clearer and worse during the Covid-19 pandemic, with supply chain wars and quality issues impacting heavily on the situation.

In response to the announcement Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC, stressed the importance of fast and accurate results so that patients can be isolated and health workers can trace close contacts, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Categories
Add Resources - Research & Development Featured Work - Manufacturing Featured Work - Procurement & Supply Management Resource Centre - Media & Press

Global Partnership to Make Available 120 Million Affordable, Quality COVID-19 Rapid Tests for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Street scene outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi.December 2017Photo credit: FIND / Ben Phillips

Rapid tests are a fast and accurate way to diagnose patients in a primary healthcare setting

Global partnership feeds healthy supply of rapid COVID-19 tests to low- and middle-income countries 

A set of global agreements reached in September 2020 paved the way for 120 million rapid COVID-19 tests to be distributed to low and middle-income countries.

The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, working with other organizations, concluded these agreements to enable the manufacture, distribution and rollout of these vital diagnostic tools.

At the time, there was a huge unmet need for fast diagnostic testing globally, especially in the low and middle-income bracket.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), the Global Fund, Unitaid, and World Health Organization (WHO) all worked on this project.

There was a particular focus on making tests available to countries without extensive laboratory facilities or trained health workers to implement molecular (polymerase chain reaction or PCR) tests.

Why is testing crucial in the fight against COVID-19?

Rapid tests are a fast and accurate way to diagnose patients in a primary healthcare setting, as this is where most people access services. 

Rapid tests are also cheaper than laboratory tests. With a fast initial diagnosis, track and trace teams in more remote and rural areas can start work sooner without waiting for laboratory test results. 

Quick results can prevent the virus from spreading in communities. Rural and remote healthcare settings especially need access to rapid testing, as accessing centralized laboratory services can take a long time.

Procurement

The Global Fund made $50-million available to purchase 10 million tests per country.

Distribution

FIND and WHO supported countries in distributing these tests.

Unitaid and the Africa CDC combined resources rollout tests to countries in Africa from October 2020. 

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

FIND and Bioaster Collaborate on Clinical Research to Assess Duration of Immune response in Patients with COVID-19

The study was to evaluate how effective serological tests (antibody tests) are in detecting a durable immune response to SARS-COV-2.

Study to investigate efficacy of antibody testing in patients’ immune response to COVID-19

In October 2020, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and French Microbiology Technology Research Institute, BIOASTER, announced a joint clinical study to investigate the efficacy of antibody testing for COVID-19.

The aim was to improve understanding of how the immune response in affected patients changed over time. 

The study evaluated how effective serological tests (antibody tests) are in detecting a durable immune response to SARS-COV-2.

At the time, no vaccines were available, and information on naturally acquired immune responses in people infected with the virus was vital. 

FIND co-convenes the Diagnostics Pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, and this study was part of its work.

The study examined antibody responses of patients seeking care at the Hospices Civils de Lyon and Centre Hospitalier Annecy Genevois in France. 

The plan was also to gather future antibody test data from low- and middle-income countries. 

Dr. Catharina Boehme, CEO of FIND, said at the time that it was not clear how human immunity would change, as people got infected and recovered. 

Categories
Add Resources - Awareness & Advocacy Resource Centre - Media & Press

Project STELLAR: Supporting the COVID-19 Response

Project Stellar to help countries expand diagnostic testing for Covid-19

In Sub-Saharan Africa, COVID-19 testing rates are still low in most

Countries. One of the reasons for this is inadequate investment in laboratory capacity. There is a similar trend in testing rates for HIV, TB, and malaria.

In addition, despite the availability of rapid antigen tests, many countries have not effectively decentralized testing to a community level. 

New investment 

Since February 2022, C19RM 2021, the response arm of the Global Fund, has been investing US$800 million across 100 countries to procure COVID-19 diagnostics and commodities.

Project Stellar was created in February 2022 within the Global Fund to support countries in reaching Covid-19 testing goals and strengthen laboratory systems over the longer term. 

Goals

It aims to offer assistance with planning, mobilizing resources, and creating a targeted advocacy program to encourage testing. Countries will also receive help in developing a diagnostics strategy and algorithm.

Other goals for the project that will run up to December 2023 are to scale up testing, including training and community outreach, and the management of data and surveillance systems.

The project will also aim to improve regulatory approvals of rapid antigen tests and coverage for COVID-19 testing.

Another goal is to advocate for wastewater-based surveillance and epidemiological monitoring at a country level. Wastewater surveillance often provides an early warning system of cases rising. 

Project Stellar will also help countries to strengthen data management and surveillance systems. 

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

You’re Part of Something Bigger”: Delivering Lifesaving COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests in South Africa

Health Poverty Action Visiting Hospitals at Kompong Chhnang & Battambong Province

Getting tests into hands: delivering rapid diagnostic tests to South Africa

In June 2021, a large shipment of COVID-19 diagnostic tests procured by the Global Fund through their Pooled Procurement Mechanism arrived in South Africa.

Part of the order was 648 000 rapid antigen tests that produced results within 15 minutes for community health workers and medical personnel working on the front lines.

At the time, the country saw a rapid rise in infections caused by the Delta variant. The rollout of vaccines to the general public only started in July that year, with the elderly getting priority access.

All hands on deck
Logistics personnel interviewed by the Global Fund reported early-morning queues on average 100 metres long at testing sites, as people tried to access possible diagnoses in response to the new infection wave.

The test kits delivered in South Africa were manufactured in South Korea, flown via Ethiopia to a warehouse in Johannesburg, and sorted and distributed throughout the country. 

The supply chain also faced several problems, including a shortage of shipping containers, resulting in delays in deliveries of essential products, such as personal protective equipment. Logistics personnel also feared theft and hijacking.

By 1 July 2021, the Global Fund has procured 21.5 million diagnostic tests worldwide.

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

Global Fund, United States and Unitaid Launch “Test-and-Treat” Programs at Second Global COVID-⁠19 Summit

Global Health Summit 2021: Rome Declaration signals world leaders’ commitment to fighting future pandemics.

On May 21, 2021, leaders of the G20 countries and other states signed the Rome Declaration signaling their commitment to fighting the current Covid-19 pandemic and agreeing to a set of principles to prepare and fight future pandemics.

What is the Rome Declaration?

The Rome Declaration signals a commitment from world leaders to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent and prepare for future pandemics. It was signed in May 2021 in Rome.

What does it say?

The Rome Declaration reaffirms the Covid-19 pandemic to be an unprecedented global health and socio-economic crisis that has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable communities, including women, girls, children, frontline workers, and the elderly.

It signals an agreement that all countries must work together to bring the disease under control, including working together for the equitable distribution of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, personal protective equipment and treatment, supply chains, and boost and diversify global vaccine-manufacturing capacity.

What principles did leaders agree to support?

It also is a commitment that underlines sustained investments in global health towards achieving Universal Health Coverage with primary healthcare at its center will be essential for the future.

 It recognizes the setbacks to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals caused by the pandemic.

The declaration also supported addressing the ACT-A funding gap to help it fulfill its mandate. The ACT-Accelerator has a funding gap of US$ 329 million for work planned up to 31 March 2023.

Significantly the declaration also noted proposals on a possible international instrument or agreement concerning pandemic prevention and preparedness.

The signatories also agreed on principles for future conduct in preparing, preventing, detecting, and responding to global pandemics.

These principles include support for the WHO as the center of a global pandemic response, sustainability, inclusivity,  resilient recovery, and support for the One Health approach addressing risks emerging from the human-animal-environment interface, the threat of anti-microbial resistance.

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

Global Fund, United States and Unitaid Launch “Test-and-Treat” Programs at Second Global COVID-⁠19 Summit

Why do we not use antibody tests to diagnose COVID-19 infections?

Checking for antibodies is not the most accurate indicator of the presence of a SARS-COV-2 infection.

What are antibody tests?

This article explains the role antibody tests are playing in fighting the pandemic. 

Antibodies neutralize foreign cells the body sees as a threat. Most COVID-19 vaccines trigger the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein in the SARS-COV-2 virus. 

The spike protein is a molecule found on the surface of the virus, and it helps the virus to enter the host cells and spread from there. 

Why can’t we use antibody testing to measure vaccine efficacy?

COVID-19 serology tests were designed early in the pandemic to detect only a few antibodies generated by natural infection, not vaccine-induced immunity.

They detect antibodies produced to fight the protein capsule around the virus and not the spike protein, while most COVID-19 vaccines introduce the body to small amounts of the genetic material in the spike protein to elicit an immune reaction.

Can antibody testing determine if a vaccine worked?

Not precisely. It takes around two weeks for the body to generate antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination, so even tests to detect the “right” antibody could be negative in the first few weeks after vaccination. 

Can antibody tests be wrong?

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that antibody testing not be used to evaluate either immunity levels or protection levels from SARS-COV-2.

Why still do antibody tests?

Data from antibody tests are helpful for surveillance studies. In these studies, large numbers of people in a community are tested. These studies estimate how many people were infected in the past and how fast the virus spreads. 

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

Redesigning systems to focus on people, not pathogens: A conversation with Dr Fifa Rahman and Dr Bill Rodriguez

Street scene outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Delhi.December 2017Photo credit: FIND / Ben Phillips

Focus on the humans, not the virus: Better diagnostics are crucial for more robust, pandemic-proof primary healthcare

In this podcast, Dr. Bill Rodriguez and Dr. Fifa Rahman discuss why it is vital to improve access to Covid-19 diagnostics and strengthen primary healthcare systems to make humans, rather than the SARS-COV-2 virus, the focus of the global pandemic response. 

Creating human-centered health systems

“It has been about the virus and not about the people for a very long time,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriquez and Rahman both highlight that globally there must be a shift in focus from the SARS-COV-2 virus to the humans affected by it. 

They agree that the focus must be on strengthening primary healthcare systems and designing diagnostics and digital tools to enable the treatment of people with respiratory symptoms at a community level. 

Fighting paternalism

Rahman emphasized that this would mean fighting paternalism at a global level. She used the example that global health decision-makers raised concerns if people in lower-income countries could read the results of self-tests for Covid-19 and act on it, even though self-tests for HIV and pregnancy have been around for a long time.

Communities must become the focus

Rodriques said decision-makers, primarily male and European, needed more input on what was happening at a community level.

He said a clear example of this was that it took global health organizations two years to finalize a policy recommendation on self-testing. One of the concerns raised was that it would not be possible to collect data on the virus if people self-test. 

At the same time, Rahman pointed out; there was a genuine risk of Covid-19 spreading in a community while people had to wait for days to access test results done at a laboratory.

“We would be negligent if we do not take this opportunity to redesign the system,” Rodriquez said.

He stressed that strengthening public healthcare systems should be a priority in preparing for the next pandemic.

Dr. Bill Rodriguez is the CEO of FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics. Dr. Fifa Rahman is the Principal Consultant at Matahari Global Solutions and a Permanent NGO Representative at the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.

Categories
Resource Centre - Media & Press

Vaccines Alone Won’t Defeat the Variants

Why do we not use antibody tests to diagnose COVID-19 infections?

Checking for antibodies is not the most accurate indicator of the presence of a SARS-COV-2 infection.

What are antibody tests?

This article explains the role antibody tests are playing in fighting the pandemic. 

Antibodies neutralize foreign cells the body sees as a threat. Most COVID-19 vaccines trigger the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein in the SARS-COV-2 virus. 

The spike protein is a molecule found on the surface of the virus, and it helps the virus to enter the host cells and spread from there. 

Why can’t we use antibody testing to measure vaccine efficacy?

COVID-19 serology tests were designed early in the pandemic to detect only a few antibodies generated by natural infection, not vaccine-induced immunity.

They detect antibodies produced to fight the protein capsule around the virus and not the spike protein, while most COVID-19 vaccines introduce the body to small amounts of the genetic material in the spike protein to elicit an immune reaction.

Can antibody testing determine if a vaccine worked?

Not precisely. It takes around two weeks for the body to generate antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination, so even tests to detect the “right” antibody could be negative in the first few weeks after vaccination. 

Can antibody tests be wrong?

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that antibody testing not be used to evaluate either immunity levels or protection levels from SARS-COV-2.

Why still do antibody tests?

Data from antibody tests are helpful for surveillance studies. In these studies, large numbers of people in a community are tested. These studies estimate how many people were infected in the past and how fast the virus spreads.