FIND and the World Well being Group (WHO) have signed a brand new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that lays the muse for accelerating innovation and attaining equitable entry to high quality diagnostics for individuals globally.
©WHO/Antoine Tardy
One yr on from the historic decision to strengthen diagnostics, and with FIND as co-lead of the Entry to COVID-19 Instruments (ACT) Accelerator diagnostics pillar, this new settlement marks a step change in a strengthened partnership between WHO and FIND to hurry up each innovation and entry to diagnostics, supporting international locations to implement the World Well being Meeting (WHA) Decision on diagnostics.
“We’re proud to be signing this MoU with WHO, as high quality and accessible diagnostic testing is the spine of well being techniques, major healthcare and well being safety,” mentioned Dr Ayoade Alakija, Board Chair of FIND. “At a time when there was three circumstances of H5N1 avian flu spillover occasions from cows to people within the final month and an outbreak of mpox within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the significance of diagnostic testing to establish outbreaks and quash them earlier than they turn out to be main epidemics and even pandemics has by no means been extra essential.”
This new settlement establishes FIND as the important thing strategic associate for diagnostics, working with WHO and others to deal with a lot of precedence areas together with antimicrobial resistance, infectious ailments like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, and noncommunicable ailments like hypertension, coronary heart illness, cervical most cancers and diabetes.
This MoU is a recognition of a long-standing relationship between FIND and WHO. It’s far more than a formalization of our collaboration, because it opens new avenues to collectively work collectively, save lives and enhance well being.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-Normal
Signed on 1 June 2024 at a ceremony attended by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Dr Yukiko Nakatani (Assistant Director-Normal) and Dr Ayoade Alakija (Board Chair of FIND), the MoU can even see the 2 organizations constructing new avenues to share data and scale up essential actions to speed up entry to life-saving diagnostics.
The signing of this MoU formalizes a long-standing partnership between WHO and FIND and marks a serious milestone within the journey in direction of higher well being and well-being internationally. By leveraging the strengths and experience of each WHO and FIND, this partnership guarantees to drive innovation on diagnostic exams and likewise enhance entry to the exams to cut back well being inequalities, finally resulting in a more healthy future for individuals all over the place.
