Dr Vicente Estrada, a Spanish infectious disease doctor, has dedicated his career to studying and fighting HIV. But when Madrid, where he lives and works, became a hotspot for COVID-19, Dr Estrada and his colleagues pivoted their work to help find a treatment
for the disease that is taking a devastating toll on many countries around the world.
“This pandemic has changed my job and my activities, and I’m moving to cover it,” he said. “All my time at this moment is devoted to this pandemic.”
Through the leadership of the World Health Organization, Dr Estrada and hundreds of other doctors around the world are now working together to find an effective treatment for COVID-19 through WHO’s Solidarity Clinical Trial.
Over three million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with around 70 000 new cases each day and a rising death toll as the virus wreaks havoc on families, societies and economies. WHO has stepped up to address this critical health crisis in the most ambitious and extensive search for a treatment ever conducted. Through the Solidarity Clinical Trial, WHO is leveraging its ability to drive global collaboration and research to test a range of possible treatment options, ensure that patients get access to safe and effective medicines and, ultimately, save lives.
Mobilizing Action to find a Treatment
With the Solidarity Clinical Trial, WHO has used its international reach and
convening power to fast-track and scale up randomized clinical trials around the world to find a treatment for COVID-19 at a rate that aims to be 80% faster than any traditional trial. By enrolling an unprecedented number of patients in a single randomized
clinical trial carried out across about 100 countries, WHO is able to test four possible treatment options faster, with the aim of gaining strong evidence for a potential treatment.
Doctors around the world, such as Dr Estrada, have now dedicated themselves full time to the task of identifying a viable treatment through the Solidarity Clinical Trial--even those who are not normally infectious disease doctors. Dr Estrada’s
team of doctors working on the trials includes even gynecologists and dermatologists.
Through donations from drug manufacturers, WHO has been able to provide potential treatment options for these clinical trials, alleviating the financial and procurement responsibility of already overburdened hospitals. As Dr Estrada confirmed, “We couldn’t have obtained these drugs outside a clinical trial.”
Dr Estrada and his team. The photo is taken before COVID-19.
Ensuring Equitable Access
Although Dr Estrada estimates that the Solidarity Clinical Trial could be releasing some preliminary results in as little as three weeks, one daunting challenge remains if a medicine is proven effective: the need to mass produce it so it can be distributed to all who need it worldwide. Dr Estrada is particularly worried about ensuring that patients in poorer countries can access affordable treatments.
“If these drugs are shown to be effective, I’m concerned about the high cost,” which may not be accessible to low-income and high-income countries alike.
Last week, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, urged the international community to ensure that effective vaccines and treatments be made available to all as a global public good: “The world needs the development, production and equitable delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutics and diagnostics. Not a vaccine or treatments for one country or one region or one-half of the world — but a vaccine and treatments that are affordable, safe, effective, easily-administered and universally available — for everyone, everywhere.”
To that end, WHO brought leaders and partners together to launch the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to new COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, and vaccines. At the event, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General stressed: “Inequity is unacceptable – all tools to address COVID-19 must be available to all. In the fight against COVID-19, no one should be left behind."
WHO is not only leading the global search for a treatment through the Solidarity Clinical Trial, but also ensuring that when a treatment is found, all COVID-19 patients around the world will have access to it.
At the end of the day, it is medical professionals like Dr Estrada who are on the frontlines of this health crisis, not only battling the disease by caring for patients, but also researching medicines and vaccines to get ahead of the pandemic. When asked what gives him hope amidst the crisis and keeps him going, Dr Estrada answered unequivocally, “the solidarity of the health professionals and the unconditional dedication to their work.”