GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- A two-day forum on COVID-19 coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded here on Wednesday, setting research priorities for scientists worldwide to better understand and fight the disease.

The forum, attended by about 350 experts and representatives from 68 institutions, aimed to mobilize international action in response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, by identifying key knowledge gaps and research priorities.

According to Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, it was very fortunate to have doctors from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention at the forum online to present the data of research already initiated in China.

"The outcome of the meeting was very much influenced by the contribution of Chinese scientists," she said.

She noted that there are three identified priorities for Chinese scientists, which include simpler diagnostics and point-of-care diagnostics that could be applied at community and primary care setting, and optimal treatment for patients who become ill and need hospital admission.

Another priority is to identify the transmission epidemiology of the virus, including where the virus originated, how it jumped to humans, its transmissibility, as well as the age groups affected etc., she said.

Meanwhile, development of vaccines and therapeutics is among other medium-term priorities, Swaminathan said.

She noted that there are already four vaccine candidates in development, of which one or two are likely to go into human trials in about three-four months from now. However, it will still take 12-18 months for a vaccine to become available for wider use.

In addition, scientists agreed that there must be a master clinical trial protocol to set out the options for different drugs that could be tested, either individually or in combination, she said.

"The faster to agree on implementing a protocol, the more likely to get results and used the results to treat patients better," she added.