Logo of The World Health Organization . File Photo . AFP
A US official told a World Health Organization meeting on Tuesday it would shift its status from observer to participant in a programme to boost COVID-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines as it joins global efforts to respond to the pandemic.
"We want to underscore the commitment of the United States to multilateralism and our common cause to respond this pandemic and improve global public health," Colin L. McIff, Acting Director at the Office of Global Affairs in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said at a WHO virtual meeting.
The meeting in Geneva aims to help fill a $27 billion funding gap for the WHO-backed programme, called the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Facilitation Council, that is aimed at broadening global access to COVID-19 fighting tools.
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