Your Excellency, President of the General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa,
I am sorry I can’t be with you today. I made all the preparations to join you, but I had to change my plan at the last minute because of the death of our colleague. I will talk about that later.
I am speaking today from Goma. We just arrived from Butumbo after a three-day visit. My esteemed colleague, Deputy Director General Zsuzsanna Jakab, is with you today on my behalf.
It is wonderful to know that so many of you are together in New York today, and that you are deeply committed to making Universal Health Coverage a reality.
This meeting is a critical milestone on the road towards achieving UHC. Gathered in one place are vital stakeholders from all sectors, particularly from civil society and communities.
Today, you will exchange ideas and learn from one another’s expertise and experiences. This gathering will help lay the firmest possible foundation for the High-level Meeting in September.
Making sure UHC works for all people and communities requires everyone’s involvement, and their full and long-term commitment.
I would like to tell you about why I went to Butembo and explain how this relates directly to UHC.
The world recently lost a brave individual who was working hard to save lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was our colleague, Dr Richard Mouzoko, an epidemiologist working on the Ebola response. He was shot and killed in a hospital in Butembo.
Dr Mouzoko would have turned 42 in May. He left behind a wife and four very young children. It is a tragedy.
WHO’s Regional Director Dr Moeti and I were in Butembo to meet with our staff and partners as well as political, business and religious leaders. We also met with UN partners including MONUSCO peacekeepers, and with NGOs active in the response.
We thanked our brave colleagues for their hard work, listened to their concerns, and discussed what measures will be in place to better protect them. Of course, they’re still in shock, but you will be proud when I tell you what our colleagues said. They said, “We’re lifesavers. We’re here to save lives and finish Ebola.” That was the proudest moment for me, to see their bravery and coverage.
And we made a strong request of the leaders we met with, which is that they must step up and play their part.
WHO and other partners can continue to support, but we cannot replace the all-of-society response that is needed in DRC to finish Ebola. We also call on the international community once again to engage by -- among other things -- helping to close the funding gap around the Ebola response. Global health security affects us all.
When healthcare workers are attacked, when treatment centers are vandalized, the result is often an increase in Ebola cases, because the response takes a few days to get back up to full speed again.
What I have spoken with you about just now has a direct link to the imperative to achieve universal health coverage.
Ebola is a disease -- but it affects more than health. It affects relations between neighbors and it affects the community fabric. It affects the work environment as well as local economies.
When countries have robust, end-to-end primary health systems, outbreaks are prevented. Crises are few and far between. Preparedness, prevention and health promotion can prevail.
When primary health systems predominate, families and communities are empowered in ways that go beyond the specifics of healthcare. Human potential shifts from merely surviving, to thriving.
Despite the challenges in DRC, we are determined to end the Ebola outbreak and – crucially -- to lay the foundation for effective primary healthcare across that country.
I am glad to say that many countries are already moving forward, towards universal health coverage. But we must pick up the pace.
Let me remind you what our goal is, and where things stand today.
Our goal is ambitious: to get everyone the quality physical and mental health care they need, when they need it, and in a way that spares them undue financial burden.
Today, half of the world’s population, as Madam President said, does not have access to essential quality health services.
More than 800 million people incur catastrophic health expenditures because they must spend more than 10 per cent of their household budgets on healthcare.
More than 50 countries in the world lack the infrastructure needed to provide UHC. They lack skilled health workers. They lack quality medicines and medical products. They don’t have basic services such as water and electricity.
These are big challenges. But this meeting is taking place today because we all know that UHC is the answer. UHC is the answer even for Ebola.
Last October, countries from around the world vowed to strengthen primary health care as the engine for achieving universal health coverage. Stakeholders from around the world – including many of you – were in Kazakhstan to endorse the Astana Declaration on the anniversary of Alma Ata, when we set the foundation for primary health care.
After 40 years, the value of the primary health care approach is clearer than ever. The proposition around putting people and communities at the centre of strengthened health systems has been proven right -- again and again.
Now we need to accelerate our efforts toward fully achieving the 2030 targets. Tomorrow there will be an event focused on SDG3, and I encourage those attending to continue this discussion there.
And looking ahead to September, it will be vital that heads of state push the agenda forward in an unprecedented way during the High-Level Meeting. Within our grasp is the chance to turn the vision of UHC into a reality – for everyone, including the most neglected individuals and communities.
Health is a fundamental human right, as Madam President said. UHC is the crucial umbrella that covers all these areas while also driving many other SDGs.
By implementing UHC -- and thereby providing financial protection to people – access to care can be genuinely broad-based. Everyone can have access to health promotion, prevention, rehabilitation and palliative care, through the course of their lives, in all contexts and settings.
I wish all of you the very best for your discussions today. I look forward to working alongside you as we prepare for the high-level meeting, and in the years beyond, as we drive toward UHC for all.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank Friends of UHC – I just had a call with Ambassador Koro Bessho of Japan – for their commitment. I would also like to thank Thailand and Georgia for convening the UHC High-Level Meeting and for their support.
For the civil society and communities attending today, and for your commitment and for your readiness to realize universal health coverage.
Thank you so much. Muchas gracias, Madam President for accommodating me, and for your understanding. I would like to assure you that WHO will do everything to realize our common dream.