As-Salaam-Alaikum
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.
I offer my thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his leadership in bringing the world together to reimagine our future.
I last addressed the World Government Summit in February 2018.
I began that speech by describing the 1918 flu pandemic, which erupted during the first World War, and although it killed more people than the war itself, was quickly forgotten and its lessons went unheeded.
I said then that a devastating epidemic can start in any country at any time, and kill millions of people, because we are not prepared.
And I said that we do not know where or when the next global pandemic will occur, but we do know that it will exact a terrible toll, both on human life, and on the global economy. It may even cause political, social and economic instability.
None of us knew then what we know now.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that indeed, the world was not prepared.
More than 8.8 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO from around the world, and more than 460 000 people have lost their lives.
Globally, the pandemic is still accelerating.
It took more than three months for the first 1 million cases to be reported. The last 1 million cases were reported in just 8 days.
But we know the pandemic is so much more than a health crisis.
It’s an economic crisis; a social crisis; and in many countries, a political crisis.
Its effects will be felt for decades to come.
Just as the pandemic has affected every sector, so the response must involve every sector.
A whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach is essential, not only for defeating the pandemic, but for the recovery.
Since 31 December 2019, when we received the first report of cases in China, WHO has been working day and night to coordinate the global response, provide evidence-based scientific and technical guidance, catalyze research and development, and provide direct support to countries most in need.
We rang the alarm bell early and often, declaring a global health emergency – our highest level of alert – on the 30 January 2020, when there were less than 100 cases and no deaths outside China.
We are working with countries to take a comprehensive approach, while maintaining essential health services.
We’ve brought together thousands of experts to analyze the evolving evidence and distil it into guidance.
We’ve launched a large international trial to find answers fast about which drugs are the most effective.
We have shipped millions of test kits and tons of protective gear all around the world, focusing on those countries who need our support most – and I would like to thank the Crown Prince for his generous support in donating and distributing supplies.
We’ve trained millions of health workers around the world through our OpenWHO.org online learning platform.
We’ve worked with tech companies to fight the infodemic.
And we’ve formed a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
But no organization and no country can fight this pandemic alone. Only by working together will we overcome this global threat.
The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself, it’s the lack of global solidarity, and global leadership. We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world.
Together, we must work to ensure the lessons of this pandemic is learned and the world never again finds itself unprepared.
For far too long, the world has operated on what the former World Bank President Dr Jim Kim calls a cycle of panic and neglect.
We throw money at an outbreak, then do little to prevent the next one.
The world is learning the hard way that we cannot continue to operate like that.
Preparedness is not a one-time investment. It’s an ongoing investment.
That’s why WHO has made preparedness a priority.
Since I took office, we have been transforming WHO not only to strengthen our ability to respond to health emergencies, but also to support countries to prepare.
We created a division focused on improving emergency preparedness in countries around the world, especially the most vulnerable.
With the World Bank we also established the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, to identify vulnerabilities in global health security.
And for the first time, we created a Science Division in WHO, to drive research and development in many areas of global health, including emerging pathogens.
Our mission statement is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.
But to fulfil that mission, countries must put in place the measures to prevent, detect and respond rapidly to outbreaks.
The International Health Regulations provide an important legal framework for countries to work together for mutual security.
The IHR were last updated in 2005 in the wake of SARS. The recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the current COVID-19 pandemic have both demonstrated that some parts of the IHR need to be strengthened to make them more fit for purpose.
This pandemic is also a brutal reminder for policy makers and leaders that the time to prepare for emergencies is before the crisis hits.
The impact on lives, livelihoods and the global economy is a clear illustration that preparedness is not a cost, it’s an investment, and that the costliest thing of all is to do nothing.
When I addressed this meeting more than two years ago, I also said that health security and health systems are two sides of the same coin.
A strong health system is a resilient health system.
Many countries have managed to successfully control COVID-19, even without vaccines, by mobilising people to do contact tracing and other essential public health functions, and redeploying health workers from non-affected to affected areas.
That’s why WHO’s highest priority is supporting countries to strengthen their health systems, and to work towards universal health coverage.
As I have said many times, health is a political choice.
Last year, world leaders came together at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to adopt a landmark political declaration on universal health coverage.
The pandemic has shown us why that declaration is so important.
We have learned the hard way that strong health systems are the foundation of global health security, and of social and economic development.
If we don’t learn this lesson now, when will we ever learn it?
Now more than ever, all countries must make universal health coverage a priority. It’s not a question of whether countries can afford to do this, it’s a question of whether they can afford not to.
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Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
I’d like to conclude with seven areas in which the international community must work together to mitigate and prevent future pandemics.
First, the world needs coordinated, predictable, transparent, broad-based and flexible funding to fully implement the International Health Regulations.
Second, the world needs a step-change towards coordinated and capacitated data management, analytics and real-time communications. Pathogens move fast; so must information.
Third, the world needs to fundamentally shift the atomized and uncoordinated mechanisms by which essential health commodities are managed.
One way to do this is through a Global Health Emergency Stockpile for medical equipment and supplies, based on both physical stocks and a virtual Pandemic Supply Chain Network.
Fourth, all countries must invest in their health workforce as the backbone of health systems and health security. A skilled workforce is the best defence for responding to outbreaks at national level, and for deploying internationally.
Fifth, the world urgently needs a coordinated approach to discover, develop and deliver effective and fit-for-purpose tools and technologies, such as vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
Sixth, as I said, all countries must make universal health coverage a priority, built on strong health systems and the foundation of primary health care.
Finally and seventh, and most importantly, the world is in desperate need of national unity and global solidarity.
The politicisation of the pandemic has exacerbated it.
Ultimately, the pandemic has shown that we are humanity, one humanity, and none of us are safe until all of us are safe.
This is a lesson that we must learn anew, and that we must learn together.
WHO remains committed to working with all countries to create the healthier, safer, fairer world that our children and grandchildren deserve.
Glad to join you again at this very important forum.
I thank you.