Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you for joining us once again for today’s briefing.
I know that many Member States are eager to see the report of the joint WHO-led study on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – and of course so am I.
The team is working on its final report as well as an accompanying summary report, which we understand will be issued simultaneously in the week of the 15th of March.
Rest assured that when the reports are ready, we will ask the expert team to share the reports with Member States ahead of their release, and to brief you on the findings.
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Governments and individuals must remember that vaccines alone will not keep up safe. Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response.
I say this, because in the past week, the number of reported cases of COVID-19 increased for the first time in seven weeks.
This increase is disappointing, but not surprising.
Some of it appears to be due to relaxing of public health measures, continued circulation of variants, and people letting down their guard.
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On the vaccine front, there has been progress this week, but we still have a lot of work to do.
This week, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire started vaccinating health workers against COVID-19, becoming the first countries to start vaccination campaigns with doses supplied through COVAX.
Deliveries have also arrived in Angola, Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sudan.
Between now and the end of May, 237 million doses of vaccines will be allocated to 142 participating economies and countries in COVAX.
COVAX has published the first round of allocations, covering the majority of economies participating in the COVAX Facility.
It is encouraging to see health workers in lower-income countries starting to be vaccinated, but it’s regrettable that this comes almost three months after some of the wealthiest countries started their vaccination campaigns.
And we must remember that the first round of allocations covers between 2 and 3 percent of the population of countries receiving vaccines through COVAX, while other countries progress towards vaccinating their entire population within the next few months.
Countries are not in a race with each other, this is a common race against the virus.
The clock is ticking. There are just 37 days left to realize the vision of starting vaccination in all countries within the first 100 days of the year.
As we gain global momentum with the vaccine rollout, national surveillance systems and international coordination play a vital role in monitoring safety and adverse events, and the emergence of variants.
And although vaccines are dominating the headlines, we must continue to accelerate the development and distribution of diagnostics and therapeutics, including oxygen.
We need more treatment options for all phases of the diseases, and we need them fast.
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Finally, I would like to draw your attention to two important days.
On the occasion of World Hearing Day yesterday, WHO published the first ever World Report on Hearing, which estimates that nearly 1 in 4 people globally will be living with some forum of hearing loss by 2050.
And yet much of this is preventable through vaccination, improved maternal and neonatal care, noise control, safe listening and more.
And today is World Obesity Day.
Although not an official WHO day, World Obesity Day is a reminder that obesity is a risk factor for so many diseases, including COVID-19.
Globally, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, affecting hundreds of millions of adults, and high percentages of children.
And yet it can be fought with effective clinical, public health, financial and regulatory tools.
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Excellencies, as always we are grateful for your support.
We look forward to your questions and comments.
I thank you.