File photo: Agencies

The World Health Organization said Friday that a global initiative to speed up the development and production of COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments will require more than $30 billion over the next year.

Providing details of the so-called ACT accelerator, aimed at pooling international resources to conquer the pandemic, WHO said "the costed plans presented today call for $31.3 billion in funding for diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines".

So far, $3.4 billion of that had been pledged, it added.