Thread by @WHO

"I would like to wish you all a very warm welcome to Geneva & to WHO for this very important meeting. I welcome everyone who is joining us virtually, especially our sisters & brothers in #China"-@DrTedros at the opening of the global research and innovation forum on #2019nCoV

"We want you to know that we stand with you in solidarity & we wish you courage, patience, success and good health in these extremely trying circumstances"-@DrTedros at the opening of the global research and innovation forum on #2019nCoV

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@DrTedros "It’s hard to believe that just two months ago, the #2019nCoV – which has come to captivate the attention of media, financial markets, and political leaders – was completely unknown to us"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "With 99% of #2019nCoV cases in #China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "This #2019nCoV outbreak is testing us in many ways.

It’s a test of political solidarity – whether the world can come together to fight a common enemy that does not respect borders or ideologies"-@DrTedros

"It’s a test of financial solidarity – whether the 🌍 will invest now in fighting the #2019nCoV outbreak, or pay more later to deal with its consequences"-@DrTedros

"And it’s a test of scientific solidarity – will the world come together to find shared answers to shared problems?

That’s why you’re here.

This is not a meeting about politics or money. This is a meeting about science"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "We need your collective knowledge, insight and experience to answer the questions we don’t have answers to, and to identify the questions we may not even realize we need to ask"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "There is still so much we don’t know.

❓What are the reservoirs?

❓What are the transmission dynamics?

❓What is the period of infectiousness?

❓Which samples should be used for diagnosis & monitoring of treatment?"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

"...

❓What’s the best way to manage cases of severe disease?

❓What ethical issues we need to be aware of in the way we do our research?

To defeat this outbreak, we need answers to all those questions, and more"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "There are also tools we don’t have. We have no vaccine to prevent infections, and no proven therapeutics to treat them"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "Following the West African #Ebola outbreak, we developed the WHO R&D Blueprint – a strategy for developing drugs and vaccines before epidemics, and accelerating research and development activities during epidemics"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "We activated the R&D Blueprint team in early January to coordinate and facilitate information-sharing on research elements of the #2019nCoV response"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "The R&D Blueprint identifies several known pathogens as priorities for research, but also includes scenarios for “pathogen x” – a previously unknown pathogen exactly like the one we are dealing with now"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "We hope that one of the outcomes of this meeting will be an agreed roadmap for research around which researchers and donors will align.

The bottom line is solidarity, solidarity, solidarity"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "That is especially true in relation to sharing of samples and sequences.

To defeat the #2019nCoV outbreak, we need open and equitable sharing, according to the principles of fairness and equity"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "WHO remains committed to equitable access to health products for populations that need them, and will work to ensure that access is always part of all R&D efforts"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

@DrTedros "Publications, patents and profits are not what matters most now.

What matters most is stopping the #2019nCoV outbreak, and saving lives.

With your support, that is what we can do together"-@DrTedros