Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to all Member States, and thank you for joining us once again.
The number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 is now at the lowest level in a year, although after 6 weeks of declines, the number of reported cases and deaths were stable last week.
We are concerned that in some countries, there appears to be a view that the pandemic is over. It’s not. We continue to urge all Member States to persist with a comprehensive, risk-based approach to suppress transmission and save lives.
One of the clear lessons of the pandemic is that the world needs new tools to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks with epidemic and pandemic potential.
One such innovative tool is Go Data, developed by WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network – GOARN – to support outbreak investigation and response.
Go Data focuses on case and contact data, including laboratory data, hospitalization and other variables.
It generates contact follow-up lists and the ability to visualize chains of transmission.
During the pandemic, the Secretariat and our partners have supported Go Data projects in more than 60 countries and territories.
My colleague Armand Bejtullahu will provide an overview of global Go Data activities in a few moments.
We’re also pleased to be joined by Dr Analia Rearte, Director of the Epidemiology Department in Argentina’s Ministry of Health, and Dr Oleksandr Matskov, Deputy Director of Ukraine’s Public Health Center, who will give an outline of Go Data implementation in their countries.
===
Earlier this month, the independent Strategic Review of the ACT Accelerator was published, and last Friday the ACT-A Facilitation Council endorsed its recommendation that the ACT-A mandate should continue into 2022.
The review also identified areas for strengthening and developing the ACT Accelerator, which we welcome, and which we are committed to implementing as we finalize plans for the next phase.
Next Wednesday, we plan to publish the new 12-month Strategic Plan and Budget for the ACT Accelerator, ahead of the G20 Summit.
As you know, 56 countries who were effectively excluded from the global vaccine marketplace were not able to reach the target of vaccinating 10% of their populations by the end of September – most of them in Africa.
Even more countries are at risk of missing the 40% vaccination target by the end of this year, and we are also off track to hit our other crucial targets of achieving a minimum testing rate of at least one per 1000 people per day; strengthening our global sequencing capacity; and ensuring all those who need it have access to medical oxygen, treatments and PPE.
For vaccines alone, we are facing a gap of at least 500 million doses through COVAX for all countries to reach at least 40% coverage by the end of the year.
Support for the ACT Accelerator is needed urgently if we are to achieve these targets and end the pandemic.
The new Strategic Plan and Budget sets out the actions and resources needed to achieve our targets.
The ACT Accelerator Facilitation Council reviewed an early version of the plan last Friday, and I would like to thank the many Member States who participated.
Dr Bruce Aylward will provide a short overview of comments received and next steps, in advance of its release.
Tania Cernuschi, WHO’s Team Lead for Global Access, and Dr Aboubacar Kampo from UNICEF, will also discuss the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in countries that have received vaccines through COVAX.
They will outline challenges with both supply and absorption, why a small number of Member States have had difficulty in using the doses they have received so far, and the intensive work being done by WHO and our partners to help countries address those challenges.
Ms Cernuschi and Dr Kampo will outline five actions Member States can take to accelerate their vaccination campaigns.
===
Finally, this week, the Secretariat published a new position paper that articulates our vision for resilient health systems as central to socio-economic recovery and development.
The pandemic has highlighted the direct link between the health of populations, the environment, and economic and social systems.
Fragmented approaches to the way countries finance, plan, implement and monitor health have perpetuated critical gaps that leaves health systems and populations vulnerable in the face of crises like COVID-19.
WHO’s vision is to enable integrated approaches to improving health systems resilience for universal health coverage and health security, based on a foundation of primary health care, with effective community engagement and a focus on equity.
The position paper outlines seven policy recommendations, with actions for each.
My hope is that all Member States read it, implement it, and reap its benefits.
As always, we look forward to your questions, comments, and guidance.
I thank you.