On April 16, 2021, President Joseph Biden of the United States and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan held a meeting in Washington DC. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since the Biden administration took office, and the two exchanged opinions on important issues between the United States and Japan, including the US-Japan alliance and regional security, climate change, and measures to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic.

During their meeting, Biden and Suga announced the launch of the Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership, a joint initiative to revitalize the bilateral alliance in ways that will “advance innovation, end this pandemic and protect the world from future ones, combat the climate crisis, and enhance our people-to-people ties.”

As part of the CoRe partnership, the United States and Japan announced their intention to “enhance our support to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator), including the COVAX facility, and encourage others to do the same thereby collectively filling the financial needs to ensure equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics particularly in developing countries.”

This important statement indicates the two countries’ intent to help close the financial gap in the three pillars of the ACT-Accelerator initiative—vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics—and accordingly, it suggests that further commitments will be made to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) in the coming months, as the Global Fund serves as the lead agency of the diagnostic pillar of the ACT-Accelerator, while also providing support to the therapeutic and health system strengthening pillars. As an initiative dedicated to strengthening the support of the Global Fund in Japan, Friends of the Global Fund, Japan (FGFJ) is pleased to see the continued discussions between the US and Japan on global health policies to combat infectious diseases.

Read the full details of the CoRe Partnership:

English: FACT SHEET: U.S.-Japan Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership
Japanese: (外務省ウェブサイト）日米競争力・強靱性（コア）パートナーシップ（仮訳）

For more information on the Biden-Suga Summit:

English: U.S.- Japan Joint Leaders’ Statement
Japanese: (外務省ウェブサイト）日米首脳共同声明　(和文)

To learn more about the Global Fund and it’s role in the ACT-Accelerator, visit the FGFJ website.