On Thursday, June 11, 13:00-14:00 (CEST), the discussion series of the Global Health Hub Germany on COVID-19 will be continued with the topic “Testing as the first step in the prevention of COVID-19” [Note: webinar will be held in German language].

Timely and sustainable testing for COVID-19 and the tracking and isolation of positive tested cases have proven to be the only strategy to contain the pandemic as best as possible in recent months. However, access to testing is hampered by high prices, interrupted supply chains and complex ordering systems. Although hundreds of tests are under development for COVID-19, there is still no simple, affordable and reliable test available to everyone, everywhere.

For this reason, FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) together with the Global Fund has launched the Access to COVID-19 Accelerator Diagnostics Partnership (ACT-A Dx). The partnership consists of global diagnostic stakeholders, including the WHO, focused on accelerating the development of high-quality rapid tests and eliminating systemic bottlenecks.

The current crisis shows that there is an urgent need to put diagnostics at the centre of pandemic control. This webinar will provide an opportunity to hear directly from stakeholders involved in the global fight against COVID-19 in testing and diagnostics. They will discuss the important role of Germany and why testing and diagnostics are not only central to contain the pandemic, but also important in the introduction of a vaccine and the treatment of COVID-19.

The webinar is hosted and moderated by

Prof. Dr. Ilona Kickbusch, Member of the Interim Steering Committe of GHHG, Founder and Chair, Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Genf.

Speakers:

• Dr Catharina Böhme, CEO, FIND, Co-Chair, ACT-A Diagnostics Partnership
• Drr Bernhard Schwartländer, Head of Cabinet, World Health Organization (WHO)
• Dr Joachim Klein, Deputy Head, Global Health Research, Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
• Roland Göhde, Chairman of the Board, GHA – German Health Alliance

To attend the webinar, please use the MS Teams link below. If you do not have MS Teams, you can participate via the link using your browser via the MS Teams Web Application.

Looking forward to your participation and an interesting discussion.

> Attend Microsoft Teams Meeting

Within the framework of the discussion series on COVID-19 of the Global Health Hub Germany, the challenges posed by the current pandemic for Global Health will be discussed from different perspectives in the form of webinars. More information on the discussion series can be found on the webseite of the Global Health Hub Germany.