Your Excellency Minister Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Al Owais,
My brother Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari,
Ms Gabriela Cuevas Barron,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
It’s an honour to join you to celebrate Universal Health Coverage Day.
I would like to thank the Government and people of the UAE for hosting these celebrations as part of Expo 2020.
Earlier this year, I had the honour of attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Like Expo 2020, Tokyo 2020 was postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And like the Olympic Games, Expo 2020 is a symbol of hope – a demonstration of human ingenuity, resilience and excellence.
We need those same qualities as we respond to and recover from the pandemic.
Indeed, crisis often gives birth to opportunity.
It was in the aftermath of the Second World War – the worst conflict the world has known – that the nations of the world came together to form the United Nations, and the World Health Organization.
The WHO Constitution, which entered into force in 1948, affirms that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.
But more than that, it affirms that the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated just how true those words are.
The pandemic is a devastating reminder that when health is at risk, everything is at risk: the economy, jobs, trade, social cohesion, political stability and multilateralism.
That’s why WHO’s top priority remains universal health coverage, built on the foundation of strong primary health care.
Universal health coverage is the basis of strong societies, and of local and global health security.
Just over two years ago, a few months before the pandemic hit, the nations of the world came together at the United Nations General Assembly to adopt the High-Level Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage.
As the world responds to and recovers from the pandemic, WHO is committed to supporting all countries to make that vision a reality.
As the Arabic proverb says, those who have health has hope, and those who have hope, have everything.
Shukran jazeelan. I thank you.