The Lancet COVID-19 Commission has released their first official statement, to mark the occasion of the opening of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly on Sept 15, 2020.

Prof. Phoebe Koundouri is one of the Commissioners of the  Lancet Commission on COVID-19.

The Statement highlights ten priority actions for the coming months:

1. Track down the origins of the virus in an open, scientific, and unbiased way not influenced by geopolitical agendas.
2. Suppress the epidemic through the proven package of non-pharmaceutical approaches (NPIs), as accomplished by several countries, with several in the Asia-Pacific region.
3. Base policy-making on objective scientific evidence, and stop politicians and others in positions of power from subverting clinical trials and other scientific protocols.
4. Collect and publish timely and internationally consistent data on the state of the pandemic, including humanitarian and economic consequences.
5. Ensure universal access to the tools to fight COVID-19, including test kits, therapeutics, and prospective vaccines.
6. Secure access of developing countries to financing from international sources, especially from the IMF and World Bank.
7. Direct urgent protection towards vulnerable groups, including the elderly, persons in poverty and hunger, vulnerable women, children, persons with chronic diseases and disabilities, the homeless, migrants, refugees, Indigenous Peoples, and ethnic and racial minorities.
8. Prepare for a deep restructuring of global finances, including debt relief, new forms of international financing, and reform of monetary arrangements.
9. Economic recovery will be based on public-investment-led growth in green, digital, and inclusive technologies, based on the SDGs.
10. Support UN institutions and the UN Charter, resisting any attempts at a new Cold War.

The full Statement can be found on The Lancet website (open access).

Media Coverage of the Statement 

https://www.unsdsn.org/the-lancetcovid-19-commission-releases-first-statement

About the Commission

The Lancet COVID-19 Commission was launched on July 9, 2020 to assist governments, civil society, and the United Nations institutions to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission aims to offer practical solutions to the four main global challenges posed by the pandemic: suppressing the pandemic by means of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions; overcoming humanitarian emergencies, including poverty, hunger, and mental distress, caused by the pandemic; restructuring public and private finances in the wake of the pandemic; and rebuilding the world economy in an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable manner aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. There are many creative solutions already being implemented, and a key aim of the Commission is to accelerate their adoption worldwide.

More information can be found at covid19commission.org.