UN Secretary General Convenes Event at 77th UNGA on Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic Through Equitable Access to Vaccines, Tests and Treatments
The UN Secretary General will host a high–level event on Friday 23rd September 2022 on ‘Ending the COVID–19 pandemic through equitable access to vaccines, tests and treatments.
Together with WHO, UNICEF and the ACT–Accelerator partnership, he will convene world leaders, country stakeholders, global health agencies, civil society and industry to discuss the need for continued political support for equitable access to COVID–19 vaccines, tests and treatments.
Despite the progress that has been made in supporting countries to increase their vaccination rates, boost testing and sequencing, and facilitate access to treatments, just 19% of people in low–income countries are fully vaccinated, compared to 75% in high–income countries, testing rates have declined globally, and access to new antivirals in low and lower–middle income countries remains limited.
At the third UNGA to take place during the COVID–19 pandemic, the UN Secretary General will urge leaders to continue supporting countries to integrate the management of COVID–19 into their health systems and ensure equitable access for all to the tools needed to end the pandemic.
He will be joined by the WHO Director–General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and the Deputy Secretary–General Amina J. Mohammed, among other guests.
This event will take place on 23 September 2022 from 3:00–4:30pm EST at UNHQ in Conference Room 2.
Additionally, WHO, ACT–Accelerator and COVID–19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership spokespeople may be available for interview around the event – please see media contact details below.
Media contacts
WHO/ACT–Accelerator: Charlotte Baker – bakerc@who.int – Geneva
CoVDP: Diane Abad–Vergara – abadvergarad@who.int – New York
UN: Jon Greenway – greenway@un.org – New York