Dr Victor Dzau,
Dr Rachel Glennerster,
Dear colleagues and friends,
I thank South Africa and the HLIP Co-Chairs and Secretariat for convening this important meeting.
I commend South Africa’s leadership in reconvening the HLIP, at a crucial moment for global health.
Four years ago, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the panel issued a landmark report that laid the groundwork for action on pandemic preparedness and response.
First, it identified an annual financing gap of 10.5 billion U.S. dollars, which catalyzed the creation of the Pandemic Fund in 2022.
In the three years since then, the Fund has disbursed 885 million U.S. dollars in grants to 75 countries, which has catalzyed more than 6 billion U.S. dollars in additional domestic and international resources.
WHO is proud to lead the Pandemic Fund’s technical work and support countries in preparing and implementing proposals.
Second, the panel advocated for enhanced coordination between finance and health, in response to which the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force, which was established in 2021 during Italy’s G20 Presidency.
WHO remains committed to supporting this Task Force – through our technical work and hosting its Secretariat.
The Task Force continues to deepen collaboration between health and finance sectors and build tools to assess and address the economic risks of pandemics.
There has also been significant progress in other areas of pandemic prevention preparedness and response.
In the past few years WHO has established several initiatives in response to the lessons the COVID-19 pandemic taught us.
This includes the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa, the Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Hub in the Republic of Korea; the BioHub; the Global Health Emergency Corps; the interim Medical Countermeasures Network, and more.
As you know, WHO Member States also adopted a set of amendments to strengthen the International Health Regulations;
And at the World Health Assembly in May this year, they adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement – a truly historic milestone.
Member States are now negotiating the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system – the PABS annex, and we expect those negotiations to conclude in time for next year’s World Health Assembly, so the Pandemic Agreement can be ratified and enter into force as international law.
So, a lot has been achieved, but significant challenges remain. Many health systems remain fragile.
Low- and middle-income countries face rising debt burdens, shrinking fiscal space, and declining development assistance.
Since January, major cuts in external health aid have compounded these challenges. Without timely domestic financing, essential health services risk being scaled back or halted.
In this context, stronger collaboration between health and finance is essential.
We welcome the five recommendations the Panel is presenting today, on domestic resource mobilization; geographically diversified access to medical countermeasures; at-risk financing for advance purchases; surge financing for diagnostics and PPE; and strengthening the Pandemic Fund.
All of this work must align closely with the Pandemic Agreement, and embed financing and operations in its obligations.
We also support the Panel’s call to broaden financing beyond vaccines. Without timely, equitable access to tests, treatments, and PPE, our response will fall short.
Looking ahead, multilateral development banks can play a vital role in helping countries act swiftly and equitably.
Whether through global set-asides, pooled procurement, or regional hubs – our benchmark must be how well the last country is served, not just the first.
Let me leave you with three requests:
First, I ask you to protect and prioritize health in national budgets.
Second, I ask you to support and strengthen the mobilization of domestic resources for health.
And third, I ask you to improve efficiency and accountability in health spending.
WHO stands ready to work with you on the road to next year’s High-Level Meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
We must work together with urgency, because as we all know, the next pandemic is not a matter of if, but when.
Thank you.