Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT’s General Secretary, has been vocal on the need for vaccine equity since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. While many countries have ordered far more vaccine than their population calls for, and a number of developed countries are well on the road to full vaccination and recovery, other countries like India and Brazil are in the grips of the worst wave of the pandemic to date.
“None of us is safe until all of us are safe,” has become a mantra around vaccination, but it is no less true for its popularity.
This week, de Faria was named as one of the civil society representatives to the COVAX Facility Advance Market Commitment Engagement Group. In this role, he will participate in all meetings of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group, collaborate with Gavi (The Vaccine Alliance), and collaborate with civil society through the Platform for Civil Society and Community Representation to ACT-A (the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator).
“I am honoured to be part of this important work,” said de Faria. “As ACT Alliance, we know the importance of vaccination, and also the key role that faith leaders and organisations play in countering vaccine hesitancy, sharing scientific information, and encouraging communities to participate.”
Birgitte Qvist-Sørensen, Moderator of the ACT Alliance, said, “Rudelmar’s presence in this group will be very valuable, as his passion for gender justice and keeping the rights and needs of the most vulnerable at the heart of our work will help to inform and guide the vaccine equity work of the COVAX Facility.”
De Faria will work to keep the focus on the needs of the most vulnerable people, informed by ACT Alliance’s 140 members working in communities in over 120 countries. “For me, the most important thing is to address health equity for the purpose of reducing disparities among marginalized communities related to COVID-19 vaccination promotion, distribution, engagement and administration.”