Unitaid and The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation launch a project to catalyze COVID-19 testing and treatment in Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Eric Kilongi, EGPAF, Ekilongi@pedaids.org, tel +254 735 702-701
Thalia Bayle, Unitaid, baylet@unitaid.who.int, tel. +41 79 660 56 37
Washington D.C. / Geneva, Switzerland, November 23, 2021
The new project will accelerate end-to-end solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care, and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of host countries Cameroon, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
A key goal of the one-year US$7 million project funded by Unitaid and implemented by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is to improve the availability and affordability of COVID-19 health products – including tests and treatments – in three African countries. A recent assessment from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that six out of every seven people with COVID-19 in Africa go undiagnosed.
The project seeks to address this and other critical gaps in care by enabling scale-up of effective and innovative COVID-19 diagnostic and treatment interventions. In addition, the project aims to reduce morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19, improve capacity to identify and treat COVID-19 cases to reduce transmission, and optimize pandemic preparedness and early detection.
This project is part of a US$50 million investment package from Unitaid and FIND aimed at accelerating the COVID-19 response in 22 low- and middle-income countries.
The project will make testing available through national maternal and neonatal child health (MNCH), HIV and TB services, and catalyze holistic approaches to COVID-19 testing, isolation, and treatment solutions. The project will support centers of excellence, conceived to be a model approach for treating COVID-19, in government hospitals as well as in feeder hospitals and health centers in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Cameroon.
In partnership with Ministries of Health, the project will generate novel evidence on the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of COVID-19 services, as well as delivery strategies to inform policy guidelines and further scale-up models of care to improve detection of COVID-19 cases. The project will increase uptake and access to high-quality and innovative COVID-19 care and treatment and create enabling policy and regulatory environments at national, and sub-national levels.
“We have learned many lessons in confronting COVID-19 amid our fight for an AIDS-free generation”, Chip Lyons, President, and CEO of EGPAF said. “Addressing the dual pandemics of HIV and COVID-19 has taught us that we cannot win anywhere without reaching everyone in need of services. This project will leverage our deep experience and long-term investment in strengthening health systems to protect citizens from the latest threat of COVID,” said Lyons.
To ensure sustainability of services, solutions developed through this project will be integrated within existing systems to support cost-effective delivery and facilitate transition to the Ministries of Health and local partners.
“Promising treatments on the horizon provide new hope in the fight against COVID-19. But these products will only help control the pandemic when all people have access to them, along with testing to guide their use. With this latest investment, Unitaid is working to reduce inequities, fight the pandemic and bring about a safer world for everyone,” said Dr. Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.
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Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
EGPAF is a proven leader in the fight for an AIDS-free generation and has reached over 31 million pregnant women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. Founded in 1988, EGPAF has supported over 15,000 sites and currently works in 17 countries to offer HIV counseling, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services alongside high-quality family health care. Each stage of life—from infancy to adulthood—brings new and different challenges, and EGPAF is driven to see a world where no other mother, child, or family is devastated by this disease. For more information, visit pedaids.org.
About Unitaid
Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.
