The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced an expanded partnership to improve access to COVID-19 technology, knowledge and clinical data, stressing on why the fight against the virus must continue.
The partnership, called the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), was launched in 2020, to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products through public health oriented, transparent and non-exclusive licensing agreements.
“COVID-19 is here to stay, and the world will continue to need tools to prevent it, test for it and treat it.
“Through C-TAP, WHO and our partners are committed to making those tools accessible to everyone, everywhere.
“I am grateful to the leadership shown by those licence holders who have contributed technology,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said in a statement.
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As of August 16, 769,806,130 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed globally, including 6,955,497 deaths, while almost 13.5 billion vaccine doses had been administered.
The three institutions joining C-TAP include private vaccine manufacturer Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Chile.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp is offering its patent for a COVID-19 vaccine that has seen more than three million doses administered across seven countries.
Similarly, the Spanish National Research Council is sharing a licence for a COVID-19 vaccine prototype, and the University of Chile, technology for quantification of neutralising antibodies.
“The addition of the three new licences provides an important boost to the overall effort in the fight against COVID-19,” WHO said.
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