Excellencies,
Good morning and thank you for the honour and opportunity of addressing you this morning.
I would like to thank Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for inviting me to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation.
Globally, the pandemic continues to accelerate, with new cases and deaths on the rise.
More than 50 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and more than 1.2 million deaths.
Last week saw the most cases and deaths recorded in a single week so far.
Although data are scarce, it’s likely that millions more people have died as a result of disruptions to essential health services.
As I said in my remarks to the World Health Assembly this week, we might be tired of COVID-19, but it is not tired of us.
Although this is a global crisis, we must remember that countries have responded differently, and as a result, they have been affected differently.
Half of all cases and deaths are in just four countries.
Many regions, including the ASEAN region, have responded effectively and demonstrated exceptional commitment to a whole-of-society, whole-of-government, comprehensive and multisectoral approach, based on evidence-based interventions.
ASEAN Member States have also been open to analyzing their own responses, conducting intra-action reviews, and sharing lessons learned with the region and the world.
Your past experience with H5N1, SARS, H1N1 and other outbreaks, combined with the strong commitment of many ASEAN countries to strengthening national and regional health security, have enabled you to respond quickly and effectively.
The Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies has proved to be an effective framework to advance implementation of the International Health Regulations.
You have also shown that in a pandemic, no country can go it alone. Regional coordination and solidarity are vital.
In that spirit, I welcome the agreements on the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework and the Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies for Public Health Emergencies.
These clearly demonstrate your political commitment to designing inclusive and sustainable policies for the future, and further strengthening regional health security.
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Since the earliest days of the pandemic, WHO has supported countries with evidence-based tools to stop transmission and save lives.
But we also realised that we would need new tools to truly bring the pandemic under control, and that those tools must be accessible to all countries equitably.
That’s why WHO proposed the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a unique mechanism with two aims: to develop vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics fast, and to allocate them fairly.
As part of the ACT Accelerator, the COVAX vaccines pillar is supporting the development of 9 promising vaccine candidates, with more to be included soon.
The COVAX facility represents an unprecedented collaboration of more than 180 countries and economies – including most ASEAN members. This is the main mechanism we will use to ensure rapid, and fair allocation of COVID-19 vaccines.
We very much appreciate ASEAN’s support for the principle that COVID-19 vaccines should be global public goods, and we welcome the participation of Viet Nam, Indonesia and Singapore in the ACT Accelerator Facilitation Council.
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Excellencies,
I have no doubt that regional cooperation, partnership and solidarity will remain the backbone of your regional approach to this crisis.
WHO is committed to supporting your national responses and the new ASEAN initiatives, and we will remain your partners as you accelerate efforts towards a sustainable and inclusive recovery.
I thank you.