Obridaga Katarina,
Excellencies, Ministers, my friend former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, dear colleagues and friends,
It is an honour to join you today.
These discussions between health, water and finance ministers are among the most important meetings of the year.
Investing in water, sanitation and hygiene is critical both to preventing and recovering from pandemics and local outbreaks.
Its absence leaves all of us exposed.
The health of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific is at risk simply because they cannot wash their hands.
That includes health workers in one out of three health care facilities globally.
You already know the basics: water, sanitation and hygiene is a first line of defence against COVID-19 and many other diseases, such as diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, influenza and pneumonia.
It is also critical for preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, which is one of our biggest global threats.
Without water, sanitation and hygiene, we are all vulnerable. This fundamental science has been known for decades. Nonetheless, inequalities in coverage of water, sanitation and hygiene have persisted.
Underinvestment in water, sanitation and hygiene has left 1.2 billion people in Asia and the Pacific without safe drinking-water, and 2.5 billion without safe sanitation.
One and a half billion people in the region do not have the means to wash their hands at home.
There is also particular concern about providing safe drinking water and sanitation to the 20 million people living in Small Island Developing States, who are among the most vulnerable populations in the region to climate change.
Globally, we are alarmingly off-track to deliver on our commitments to Sustainable Development Goal 6 for water and sanitation.
To achieve the 2030 goals, the rate of progress for sanitation needs to quadruple.
The 19th of November was World Toilet Day, when WHO and UNICEF launched the State of Sanitation report, which sets out a path for investment in governance, financing, capacity development, data, and innovation.
Investments in water, sanitation and hygiene are what we call a “no-regrets” investment, which pays a rich dividend in health, human rights and inclusive economic growth.
The economic benefits of investing in sanitation are estimated at about five times the cost.
And improving hand hygiene can generate savings in health expenditure up to fifteen times the cost.
In other words, investing in water, sanitation and hygiene is not just a health imperative, it’s an economic imperative.
The COVID-19 pandemic is reminding us that health and economics are deeply intertwined, and that investments in health – including water, sanitation, and hygiene – are the necessary foundation for productive, resilient and stable economies.
But these links are not well understood. Too often, health spending is seen as a cost, not an investment.
To address this gap, I recently announced that WHO will establish a new Council on the Economics of Health for All, to focus on the links between health and sustainable, inclusive and innovation-led economic growth. The Council will be chaired by distinguished Professor Mariana Mazzucato.
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Excellencies,
COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest crisis of our time. But it’s also the greatest opportunity of our time – an opportunity to rethink the future.
Investments in water, sanitation and hygiene are central policy prescriptions in WHO’s “Manifesto for a Healthy and Green Recovery” from COVID-19 .
With sustainable public investment, responsible management, and accountability, we can make safe water, sanitation and hygiene a reality for everybody, in Asia and the Pacific and around the world.
Again, Catarina, Madam Chair, I thank you. Obrigado.