On Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has named former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a Special Envoy for the newly inaugurated Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.
She is to serve alongside British business executive, Sir Andrew Witty in the same capacity, to mobilise international commitment to the initiative.
Director-General of the organisation, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, made this announcement during the launch of the ACT Accelerator — via webinar from Geneva.
He said, “I would especially like to thank Sir Andrew Witty and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for agreeing to act as Special Envoys for the ACT Accelerator.”
The initiative is an international collaboration aimed at accelerating the development, production, and equitable distribution of COVID-18 drugs, tests kits, and vaccines around the world.