GENEVA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that the UN health agency is working hard to ensure supplies of essential medical equipment for front-line health workers.

Speaking from Geneva at a virtual press conference, the WHO chief said that so far, the organization has shipped more than 2 million items of personal protective equipment to 133 countries and regions, and it is preparing to ship another 2 million items in the coming weeks.

"We've sent more than 1 million diagnostic tests to 126 countries, in all regions, and we're sourcing more," he said.

Tedros added that the WHO is also working with the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum and others in the private sector to ramp up the production and distribution of essential medical supplies.

"Today we are launching the UN COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force, to dramatically scale up the supply of these life-saving tools, and match supply with needs," he announced.