WHO Director – General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has welcomed contributions from Norway and Sweden to the ACT Accelerator, which has taken both countries over their “fair share” allocation.

Grants of USD 340 million from Norway and USD 300 million from Sweden will accelerate efforts to obtain vaccines in weapons, facilitate access to new treatments and ensure that health systems can meet the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic.

Norway and Sweden join Germany and have exceeded their fair share of ACT-A’s budget for 2021/22, with Canada promising to do the same. “Fair share” calculations are based on the size of a country’s national economy and what they would gain from a faster recovery of the global economy and trade.

In February 2022, the President of South Africa Ramaphosa and the Prime Minister of Norway Støre – in their roles as co-chair of the ACT Accelerator Facilitation Council – called on 55 countries to jointly support global efforts to end the covid-19 crisis and contribute their “fair share” to The urgent needs of the ACT Accelerator agencies.

These contributions from Norway and Sweden reinforce the strong support that both countries have given to ACT-Accelerator since the start in 2020.

The ACT Accelerator now faces a funding gap of $ 11.2 billion, after receiving a total grant of $ 5.6 billion for the 2021/22 budget.

WHO Director – General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “I would like to commend Norway and Sweden for their commitment to the important work of the ACT Accelerator. We urge other countries to follow their lead in contributing their fair share and 19 vaccines, tests and treatments for those who need them most. We have made tremendous progress in reducing mortality and transmission. But cases are still rising in 110 countries. Our job is not over. We must ensure that all countries are equipped to combat future waves of covid-19. “