The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced a partnership with world football governing body, FIFA, and the government of Qatar to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests.

With the #ACTogether campaign, the WHO is emphasizing the need to scale up access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, through support to the Global Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator equity initiative, as well as the importance of strict adherence to public health measures.

The WHO, FIFA and Qatari partnership intends to use the platform provided by the FIFA Arab Cup, which runs until 18 December, to bring the world's attention to the need to join efforts aimed at tackling COVID-19.

"Nobody is safe until everyone is safe and we all have our roles to play in sharing that message," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"Health comes first, and through football, we can reinforce the message that high infection and death rates will persist worldwide as long as there is inequitable access to tools to fight the pandemic. Teamwork is key to that and that's why we are standing together with the WHO, the Qatar Ministry of Public Health and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and call for everyone to #ACTogether and lay the foundations for a healthy FIFA World Cup in 2022."

On his part, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom noted that the emergence of the Omicron variant had underlined the need for the world to come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I welcome the strong support from Qatar's Ministry of Public Health, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, FIFA, players, spectators and partners to support this vital message on the occasion of the FIFA Arab Cup. Now, more than ever, we need to facilitate equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests, and encourage everyone to follow public health measures," he said.

FIFA and its partners will run the #ACTogether campaign with a series of videos for broadcast, both in-stadium and around Doha. Team captains will also show their support for the message, while each participating member association will have assets to share with its fans via its social and digital platforms.