Your Excellency Dr Mai Al Kaila,
Your Excellency Dr Firas Abiad,
Honourable ministers and heads of delegation,
My brother Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari,
Dr Moustafa El Fiky,
Dr Omnia El Omrani,
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
I thank Egypt once again for its hospitality in hosting the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as this meeting of the Regional Committee.
As you know, this is a particularly important moment for the region, as Member States prepare to elect a new Regional Director.
But it’s also an important moment for Egypt, as we celebrate its success in achieving Gold Tier status on the path to elimination of hepatitis C.
This morning I had the honour of meeting with His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to present him with the official certification that Egypt has become the first country in the world to achieve Gold Tier status on the path to elimination of Hepatitis C.
This is not only a success for Egypt but for the region as well.
Less than 10 years ago, Egypt had one of the highest prevalence rates of hepatitis C infection in the world.
Thanks to political leadership from President El-Sisi through the “100 million seha” campaign, Egypt has reduced hepatitis C incidence by 97%.
This is an incredible achievement, and it shows how major public health challenges can be overcome with the combination of political leadership and modern tools.
I offer Egypt my warmest congratulations, and I look forward to this evening’s official ceremony.
===
Excellencies, I begin by expressing my deep concern over the conflict in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territory that erupted on Saturday.
This is the latest tragic chapter in a tragic story in which there are no winners.
In my meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi this morning, I asked for his assistance in sending humanitarian supplies to Gaza through the Rafah crossing, and he has generously agreed.
WHO will move supplies from our logistics hub in Dubai to Egypt, and we will work with the Palestinian Red Crescent to ensure those supplies reach health facilities in Gaza.
WHO is doing what we can to support the health response, but this situation will not be solved with bullets and bombs. The only solution is dialogue, understanding, compassion and peace.
We are all painfully aware that this conflict is just one crisis in a region that has already suffered so much, and continues to suffer so much.
I extend my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in Saturday’s earthquake in Afghanistan, as well as last month’s floods in Libya and earthquake in Morocco, and the earthquake that struck the Syrian Arab Republic and Türkiye earlier this year.
And we continue to respond to the ongoing crises in Somalia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen.
We have every reason for sorrow. But we must not give in to despair.
In our fractured and divided world, we must continue to seek common ground, and common good.
At the end of the day, we're one humanity.
===
Excellencies,
Last month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York was a historic one for health, with three High-level meetings on health issues.
Member States approved strong political declarations on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, universal health coverage and tuberculosis.
All three are relevant to the work of this region. And all three depend on a strong WHO, and a strong region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
I welcome the Regional Director’s report on implementing Vision 2023, and I will have more to say about that tomorrow.
Over the past six years, WHO has undergone the most significant transformation in its history, grounded in a bold new strategy, the 13th General Programme of Work.
As you know, we are now working with Member States to develop the 14th General Programme of Work for 2025 to 2028.
In my address to the Regional Committee last year, I outlined five priorities – the “Five Ps” – which are now becoming the basis of GPW14: to promote, provide, protect, power and perform for health.
A few words on each.
The first priority is to promote health and prevent disease by addressing its root causes, including the existential threat of climate change.
I welcome the regional framework for action on climate change, health and the environment which you will consider this week.
And I am very much looking forward to COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in December, which for the first time will include a day dedicated to heath.
I thank the UAE for its leadership, and I urge all Member States to participate actively and to use the opportunity that UAE has created.
===
The second priority is to provide health, by radically reorienting health systems towards primary health care, as the foundation of universal health coverage.
The most recent edition of the Global Monitoring Report on UHC, published just a few weeks ago, shows that as a region, you have made significant improvements in service coverage, although most gains have been in upper-middle and high-income countries that are not fragile or conflict-affected.
By contrast, the report shows an alarming increase in catastrophic health spending in the region.
I urge all Member States to focus on financial protection for your populations, especially for women and children.
The backbone of a strong health system is a strong health workforce, so I welcome the technical paper on health workforce in the region which you will consider this week.
Maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health must also be critical areas of focus, including restoring routine immunization to pre-pandemic levels.
To support Member States, WHO has launched the “Big Catch Up” with UNICEF and Gavi, to support the most-affected countries to catch-up, recover, and strengthen their immunization infrastructure.
===
The third priority is to protect health, by preparing countries to mitigate health risks, and to rapidly detect and respond to both acute and protracted health emergencies.
More than 360 million people worldwide are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 140 million of them live in this region, sadly.
This is a heavy burden, but in many cases you have been able to deliver effectively and meet international standards, despite the constraints you face.
I welcome the paper on strengthening public health readiness for mass gatherings, and the regional framework on addressing NCDs in emergencies, both of which you will consider this week.
Meanwhile, regionally and globally, the same vulnerabilities that COVID-19 exposed persist.
During the pandemic, all countries built new capacities to prevent and control epidemics and pandemics. I urge all Member States to sustain those gains and not slip back into the cycle of panic and neglect.
The investments you have made must not go to waste. And nor must the painful lessons we have learned.
That is why WHO has developed a plan for a more equitable, inclusive and coherent global architecture for health emergency preparedness and response, with equity at its core.
The new pandemic accord, and amendments to the International Health Regulations, will provide the vital legal foundations for this architecture.
However, I am concerned that negotiations are moving too slowly, and that the accord may not be agreed in time for next year’s World Health Assembly in May 2024.
I urge all Member States to work with a sense of urgency, with a particular focus on resolving the most difficult and contentious issues.
This is a unique opportunity that we must not miss to put in place - a comprehensive accord that addresses all of the lessons learned during the pandemic, with a particular emphasis on equity.
This is a generational agreement that should be written by this generation. I urge you to really focus on this accord in the next few months so that we will have the accord by May 2024. ===
Promoting, providing and protecting health are proposed as the three key priorities for all Member States in the 14th General Programme of Work.
The other two Ps – powering and performing for health – are enablers of the first three.
Powering health means harnessing the power of science, research and development, data and digital technologies.
Just a few weeks ago, WHO launched the Global Initiative on Digital Health at the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting in India.
The Global Initiative will support Member States by converging and convening global standards, best practices and resources for digital health transformation, rooted in people-centred, evidence-based solutions.
Your active participation will be important.
===
And the final P, performing for health, is about the work we are doing as the Secretariat to support you better.
In particular, one of my key focuses for the remainder of my second term is to strengthen our country offices, with a core country presence, delegation of authority, adequate financial and human resources, the implementation of global mobility, enhanced internal communications, and more.
To support these efforts, I have squeezed 100 million US dollars from our budget to allocate to country offices.
Our Programme Budget for the next biennium is also the first in which country offices will be allocated more than half of the total budget for the biennium.
We have already increased funding flows to regions and countries, and the more flexible funding we receive, the more we can increase that amount and allocate more to regions and countries.
Our work to strengthen country offices will benefit greatly from the 20% increase in assessed contributions, and by the proposal for an Investment Round, both of which you approved at this year’s World Health Assembly.
And I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for your support, both for increasing assessed contributions and also for the Investment Round.
Especially the increase in assessed contributions, which is historic. This is the first time that Member States agreed to increase by 20% - the largest in the history of the organization. That shows your commitment to the organization and also to global health.
We are also continuing our efforts to strengthen our workforce, to achieve gender equity at all levels, and to make zero tolerance for all forms of sexual misconduct a reality, and not merely a slogan.
===
Finally, this Regional Committee is bittersweet, as you elect a new Regional Committee, and we say goodbye to my dear brother Ahmed.
My brother, I do not have the words to express how much I have appreciated working with you over the past five years.
You have served the Member States and the people of this region with distinction and humility.
There is an Omani proverb that says he that gives out of generosity has it returned.
My brother, thank you for your generosity over the past five years.
I well understand that this is a demanding job, and that after giving everything you have to the people of the region, you rightly want to give everything you have to the people who are closest to you – your family. I respect you even more for that.
I thank you for dedicated service, and I look forward to seeing what the next chapter of life brings you. I wish you every happiness. But as we say, once WHO always WHO, and we look forward to continuing to work with you - maybe in another capacity, inshallah.
I look forward to working with your successor, who has very big shoes to fill.
Thank you all once again for your continued commitment to promoting, providing, protecting, powering and performing for health in the Eastern Mediterranean.
I wish you all a very productive and successful regional conference.
Shukran jazeelan. I thank you. Merci beaucoup.