Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Good morning and good afternoon, and welcome to all the journalists joining this press conference, where we will discuss treatment access in the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am pleased to be joined today by Dr Andrea Howard, Director of the Clinical and Training Unit at Columbia University in the United States, who will discuss the lessons learned from the fight against HIV. This is an area of particular interest for me, having worked extensively myself on HIV treatment acceptance, and equity.
A warm welcome too to our second speaker, Dr Harley Feldbaum, Head of Strategy and Policy at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Dr Feldbaum will talk about the Fund’s efforts to increase access to COVID-19 treatment.
There have now been more than 10.4 million, that is almost 10 and a half million cases of COVID-19, and over 234 000 lives sadly lost in Africa due to the pandemic.
For the first time since the start of this Omicron-fuelled fourth wave, Africa is seeing a significant drop in new cases, and a promising dip in reported deaths.
Cases fell by 20% in the week up to 16 January, while the number of deaths dropped by 8%. The decrease in deaths is still small, and further monitoring is needed to determine whether the trend will be sustained.
However, while four sub-regions reported a fall in new cases, we are closely monitoring the situation in North Africa, where cases spiked by 55%, and Tunisia and Morocco have both seen an exponential increase, overtaking South Africa as the countries with the most cases on the continent.
I take this opportunity to stress that while the impact of this latest peak has been moderate, the continent has yet to turn the tide on this pandemic. So there is no room for complacency.
Vaccination remains our best defence against severe illness, death and overwhelmed health systems, along with other WHO-approved prevention measures, such as wearing masks consistently and correctly, as well as handwashing.
So long as the virus continues to circulate, further pandemic waves are inevitable. Africa must not only broaden vaccinations, but also gain increased and equitable access to critical COVID-19 therapeutics to save lives and effectively combat this pandemic.
Currently, patients with severe forms of the virus are being treated with corticosteroids, which are largely available and affordable, and medical oxygen, supplies of which remain a challenge in many countries.
African countries face major impediments in accessing a full range of COVID-19 treatment, due to limited availability and high costs.
For example, take antibody treatments Casirivimab and Imdevimab. These can help prevent people with mild to moderate symptoms from advancing to more severe disease. But the cost is prohibitive, at between US$550 and US$1220 for a single dose.
The deep inequity that left Africa at the back of the queue for vaccines must not be repeated with these life-saving treatments.
Universal access to diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics will pave the shortest path to the end of this pandemic.
Altogether, WHO has approved 11 therapeutics which can be used to treat COVID-19. We are reviewing the data on two oral antivirals—Paxlovid from Pfizer and Molnupiravir from Merck—which the manufacturers report show promise in reducing the risk of hospitalization in some patients.
We’ve been negotiating with manufacturers to secure global supply capacity, and equitable and sustainable access. As a first step, WHO is supporting the shipment of a limited number of vials of Tocilizumab to African countries.
This immunosuppressive drug is used to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients, and we are pleased to have secured these doses from the very limited global supply.
So, I look forward very much to today’s discussion, and thank you once again for joining us.