WHO and CRica leader on virus health technologies

The World Health Organization and Costa Rica on Friday outlined a new worldwide access initiative for COVID-19 health technologies.

The technology repository for vaccines, medicines, diagnostics is to be launched in the coming weeks, opening a platform for collaborative sharing of knowledge, data and intellectual property on existing and new health tools to combat COVID-19, the World Health Organisation Director-General said.

Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado Quesada said "the basic idea is a call for solidarity and a call to action for creating this repository, a global pool for rights on data knowledge technologies to make more affordable and accessible the new techniques, new technologies, new vaccines, new treatments so we can, as one around the world, defeat COVID-19."

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also commented on the rare inflammatory condition affecting children, believed to be linked to COVID-19.

"It's critical to urgently and carefully characterize this clinical syndrome, to understand causality and to describe treatment interventions," Tedros said. "I call on all clinicians worldwide to work with your national authorities and WHO. to be on the alert and better understand this syndrome in children."

Doctors in Britain, Italy and Spain have been warned to look out for this rare inflammatory condition in children. Last month, Britain’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society issued an alert to doctors noting there had been an increase in the number of children with “a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care” across the country.

The group says there was “growing concern” that either a COVID-19 related syndrome was emerging in children or a different, unidentified disease might be responsible.