Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you for joining us for this week’s Member State briefing.
Today we will be hearing presentations from His Excellency Dr Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health of Nigeria and His Excellency, Deputy Health Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr Abdullah Assiri.
Both ministers will share their experiences and lessons learned from the COVID-19 response.
We will also hear presentations on the epidemiological situation from my colleagues, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove and Dr Boris Pavlin.
First, let me give you a brief update.
Globally, there are now almost 22 million reported cases, and almost 776,000 deaths.
Despite these mounting numbers, there are signs that countries are now much better prepared to respond to COVID-19.
Most countries now have a preparedness and response plan and a risk communication and community engagement plan in place.
And all countries now have laboratory testing capacity.
At the same time, we see some worrying gaps.
Only about half of countries have a national infection prevention and control program and standards for water, sanitation and hygiene in all health care facilities.
Only one-third of countries have a national policy and guidelines on infection prevention and control for long term care facilities.
And only about one-quarter of countries have a health occupational safety plan for health care workers.
Two-thirds of priority countries report that they have postponed at least one vaccination campaign due to the pandemic.
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As each of your countries works on its own response, I’d like to take this opportunity to say that by working together, we are protecting each other.
It is natural and right that political leaders want to protect their own people first.
But in a global pandemic, none of us are safe until all of us are safe.
As I said in Tuesday’s press briefing, I am deeply concerned about the potential for vaccine nationalism to exacerbate both the pandemic and the inequalities of our world.
The resolution you adopted at the World Health Assembly in May calls for universal, timely and equitable access to health products, and recognizes the role of extensive immunization as a global public good.
As new diagnostics, medicines and vaccines become available, it’s critical that countries don't repeat the mistakes early on in the response, when some countries hoarded supplies.
Since May, WHO has been in extensive discussions to develop a new framework to guide fair and equitable access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
As part of the ACT Accelerator, the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility is the critical mechanism for joint procurement and pooling risk across multiple vaccines.
Earlier this week I sent a letter to every Member State encouraging you to join the COVAX Facility.
This is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is in each country's national interest.
The fastest way to end the pandemic and reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire populations of just some countries.
No one country has access to all the research and development, all the manufacturing capacity and all the supply chain for all essential medicines and materials.
We all need each other.
Under the COVAX Facility, we propose allocating vaccines in two phases.
In phase 1, doses will be allocated proportionally to all participating countries simultaneously to reduce overall risk.
In phase 2, consideration will be given to countries’ in relation to threat and vulnerability.
Front line workers in health and social care settings will be prioritized, as well as adults over 65 years old and those others who are most vulnerable.
A phase 1 allocation that builds up to 20 percent of the population would cover most of the at-risk groups.
If we do not protect these highest risk people from the virus everywhere and at the same time, we cannot stabilize health systems and rebuild the global economy.
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Finally, I’d like to update you on the timing of the special session of the Executive Board.
In consultation with the EB Chair Dr Harsh Vardhan, who is joining us again this week, we will convene the EB to discuss the ongoing response and the implementation of the terms of Resolution WHA73.1.
Given the existing schedule of global intergovernmental meetings, such as the United Nations General Assembly and the WHO Regional Committee meetings, we have agreed on the earliest possible dates, which are the 5th and 6th of October.
I am hopeful that the co-chairs of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Her Excellency former President Sirleaf and the Right Honorable former Prime Minister Clark, will update the board during the special session.
Next week we will be presenting the SCORE for Health Data Technical Package - a one-stop solution to strengthen health information systems worldwide, and Member States capacity to generate timely, reliable and actionable data.
But in addition to that, since the every week/every Thursday meeting is for you, any recommendations you have or any suggestions you have on what we should discuss, it will be your day.
So please suggest or recommend anything you would like to discuss on Thursdays, and we will prepare the every Thursday meeting based on your needs and recommendations.
Now, please join me in welcoming our presenters from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
I thank you.
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August 21, 2020 at 02:29PM
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WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Member State briefing on COVID-19 - 20 August 2020 - World - ReliefWeb
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