Your Excellency Saeed Namaki, Minister of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran and outgoing Chair of the Regional Committee,
Your Excellency Dr Hala Zaid, Minister of Health and Population of Egypt and incoming Chair of the Regional Committee,
Honorable Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
My colleague and brother, the Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning to you all.
I want to start by offering my deep condolences to all Member States of the Eastern Mediterranean for the loss of life you have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I offer my deep thanks and admiration to your health workers, who have put themselves in harm’s way in the service of others.
And I offer my commitment that WHO will continue to work with you and support you to end the pandemic and build back better.
Thank you, my dear brother Dr Al-Mandhari, for your leadership during this very important period. Shukraan jazeelan.
It’s hard to imagine that when this Committee met a year ago, COVID-19 was still completely unknown to us.
How the world has changed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our health systems, societies, and economies.
Although most EMRO Member States are not among the worst-affected, your region has suffered in many ways.
The social and economic consequences of the pandemic are severe, as Ahmed said.
Cases are increasing in the region, and all countries must remain vigilant. The virus is still circulating and most people remain susceptible.
Hard-won gains can be easily lost.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, WHO has been working to support your countries in many ways, at all three levels of the organization.
We’ve sent missions to several countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
We’ve sourced, validated, purchased and delivered around 40 million masks, gloves, gowns, goggles, tests, oxygen concentrators and more.
The OpenWHO.org learning platform has provided online training in 11 regional languages, with 720,000 enrolments from the Eastern Mediterranean alone.
And through the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and the COVAX Facility, we’re working to ensure that if and when a vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, it will be accessible equitably for all countries in your region.
Thank you to the 10 Member States who have signed commitment agreements with the COVAX Facility, or have confirmed your intent to participate.
This is a strong statement of solidarity with the 11 EMRO countries and territories who are eligible for support through the COVAX Facility advanced market commitments.
Ensuring equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do to catalyse the global economic recovery.
But we cannot just wait for a vaccine. We must save lives with the tools we have at hand.
As cases increase across the region, WHO is urging countries to focus on four essential priorities:
First, prevent amplifying events. All around the world, explosive outbreaks have been linked to gatherings at stadiums, nightclubs, places of worship and other crowds.
Second, protect the vulnerable, to save lives and reduce the burden on the health system of severely- and critically-ill patients.
Third, educate and empower communities to protect themselves and others. Physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and masks can all help to curb transmission and save lives – not in isolation, but together.
And fourth, persist with the public health basics: find, isolate, test and care for cases, and trace and quarantine their contacts.
Countries that do these four things, and do them well, can prevent or contain widespread transmission and avoid having to reimpose so-called lockdowns.
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Excellencies, colleagues and friends,
The effects of the pandemic will be long-lasting and far-reaching.
We still have an enormous challenge in front of us to bring this virus under control.
But the even bigger challenge will be what we do after the pandemic ends.
The pandemic has illustrated that now more than ever, investing in health is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
COVID-19 is a powerful demonstration of why the “triple billion” targets of the 13th General Programme of Work and the Eastern Mediterranean’s “Vision 2023” are so important, and why we must pursue them with even more determination.
The pandemic has highlighted that healthy populations, universal health coverage and health security are inseparable.
Throughout the response, we have seen how WHO’s transformation is helping to make us more agile and responsive, and to deliver the support the world needs.
Our new operating model, which aligns our organizational structures vertically at all three levels, is helping us to deliver impact in countries.
Working with the Emergencies programme, and building on the R&D Blueprint, our newly-formed Science Division has brought together researchers from around the world to identify priorities, initiated the Solidarity Trial, and quality-assured our scientific publications and guidance.
Our new Division of Emergency Preparedness has developed the COVID-19 Partners Platform, supported intra-action reviews, and is working closely with the Universal Health Coverage divisions to improve and maintain public health functions and essential health services.
Working with the Emergencies programme, the Division of Data and Delivery for Impact and the digital health department have developed tools under ICD-11 for monitoring COVID-19 associated mortality.
And the OpenWHO.org learning platform has provided powerful proof of concept for the WHO Academy, that can help us to build capacity at national level.
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Excellencies, brothers and sisters,
This pandemic will end. But it will not be last one.
We have a shared responsibility to our children and our children’s children to leave the world better prepared for the next pandemic.
This is a scientific and technical challenge. But more than that, it’s a test of character.
As I have said many times, the keys to defeating this pandemic are unity and solidarity.
That is true in families, neighbourhoods and communities, and it’s true at the regional and global level.
When we act out of self-interest, we provide an opportunity for the virus to spread. When we act in solidarity, the virus can be stopped.
The stakes have never been higher. But nor has the prize: a healthier, safer, fairer and more sustainable world.
Shukraan jazeelan. Thank you so much.