Honourable Ministers,
The COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful demonstration that human health does not exist in a vacuum, and nor can our efforts to protect and promote it.
One Health is not a new concept, but its importance has become devastatingly apparent.
We know that human activities that encroach on wildlife can create opportunities for contact with previously unknown pathogens.
But despite progress in recent decades, gaps remain in our understanding of the complex processes that trigger the emergence of new zoonotic pathogens, which account for 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases.
New technologies are giving us the ability to predict, prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks faster than ever before.
As I mentioned in my opening remarks yesterday, last week we opened the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.
This new initiative is aimed at harnessing the power of new technologies, and fostering greater sharing of information globally.
We seek the support and active engagement of all G20 countries with the WHO Hub to make it a success.
But global intelligence is only ever as good as local intelligence. A key part of WHO’s work is developing tools, training people and supporting countries to collect and analyse data at its source to guide rapid local response.
Just as the lack of sharing of vaccines has compromised our ability to end this pandemic, so the lack of sharing of data globally compromises our ability to predict, prevent and prepare for future pandemics.
If we are to truly strengthen global health security, all countries can, and must, improve the quantity and quality of data they share with WHO, including G20 countries.
At the same time, a truly One Health approach must go beyond zoonoses to encompass issues including the health impacts of deforestation, intensive agriculture, pollution, climate change and more.
More than a decade ago WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organisation for Animal Health, came together as the tripartite to develop and promote the “One Health” concept.
Earlier this year, WHO establishing a High-Level Expert Panel, including the United Nations Environment Programme as an important new partner.
This new panel will advocate for bold policy measures and investments to reduce the risk of future pandemics and to change harmful practices that threaten us now and in future generations.
The pandemic has shown us that we have one planet and one health, and that we have no future but a shared future.
I thank you.