Late May this year Macron visited South Africa and had conference which clearly showed he visited the continent because he wanted to accelerate the Covid-19 agenda, pushing African leaders to deliver results to them pulling the strings.
During this meeting Macro mentioned a new initiative aimed at speeding the distribution of the deadly vaccines to the African people; the initiative names Accelerate-ACT posted on the UN website says;
The ground-breaking Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) coalition was launched on 24 April by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the European Commission, France, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supported by the UN Secretary-General and multiple Heads of Government, with the vision of creating an end-to-end global solution to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
It brings together governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global organizations including CEPI, FIND, Gavi, The Global Fund, Unitaid, Wellcome and the World Bank.
ACT-Accelerator has a number of pillars of action – from the development, production to equitable distribution and accessibility of tests and treatment:
- Diagnostics: train healthcare professions, develop and deliver high-quality rapid tests and carry out testing particularly in low and middle-income countries.
- Therapeutics: develop and distribute treatment and prevention tools.
- Vaccines (COVAX): speed up the search for an effective vaccine as well as build robust manufacturing, supply and distribution capabilities.
