Our outgoing chair, Minister Toki Brown,
Incoming chair, Minister Lalambalavu,
Honourable Ministers, Ambassadors and Heads of Delegation,
Regional Director Dr Saia Piukala,
Bula Vinaka, and good evening from Geneva. Good morning to you, it’s around midnight here.
I’m very sorry I can’t be with you in person, but thank you for accommodating me virtually. I have very good memories of Nadi and Suva.
I thank Fiji for hosting this year’s Regional Committee, and for your support for the World Health Organization.
I’m delighted to see the Regional Committee returning to the Pacific for the first time in a decade.
I would also like to join Member States in welcoming Indonesia to the Western Pacific – and I send warm greetings to my friend Minister Budi.
I thank the Regional Director Dr Saia for his report, and I congratulate Member States for the many impressive achievements it describes.
In every single country, there are successes to celebrate, and challenges to confront.
I’m pleased to see progress against each of the five “vertical” strands, and each of the three “horizontal” strands of the regional vision.
Many countries are taking action against tobacco, NCDs, and making progress towards disease elimination;
Other countries are protecting girls against cervical cancer;
expanding treatment for neglected tropical diseases; taking action against AMR, and strengthening their emergency preparedness and response capacities; and more.
Of course, you also face many challenges, which are reflected in your agenda this week:
Climate change remains an existential threat, so the Regional implementation plan for climate change and health system safety and resilience is an important step forward, especially for small island states.
The amended International Health Regulations are a central pillar of global health security, and the Implementation plan for the revised IHR will help to make the region safer.
Oral health is a neglected area of public health, which the Regional Implementation Plan will help to address;
And alcohol, as my brother Saia said, is a major driver of disease and death, so your work on accelerating Implementation of the WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan is very important.
Honourable Ministers, dear colleagues and friends,
At this year’s World Health Assembly, Member States sent a very powerful message that a strong and empowered WHO is what they want.
First, the approval of the next increase in assessed contributions was a major step towards WHO’s financial sustainability, and to protecting it from future shocks;
And second, the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement was truly historic, demonstrating that in these divided times, countries can still come together and find shared solutions to shared problems.
The WHO Secretariat is committed to supporting all Member States in this work, but as you know, we are facing a very difficult situation.
We have been undertaking a major restructuring this year – at headquarters and in every region, including the Western Pacific.
We began at the top, reducing the number of senior managers and directors at headquarters almost by half.
Over the past few weeks and months, we have been through a painful process of saying goodbye to a large number of colleagues, as my brother Saia indicated earlier.
These are people who have served the world in many ways, including under extreme pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and do not deserve to be treated this way.
But we see this crisis as an opportunity to build a WHO that is more focused on its core mandate, more independent and more able to deliver for Member States and the people we all serve. We’re looking for models to do more with less.
Honourable Ministers, dear colleagues and friends,
I leave you with three requests.
First, I urge all Member States to engage actively in negotiations on the PABS annex to the Pandemic Agreement, and to conclude it in time for next year’s World Health Assembly in May. The Pandemic Agreement will not be complete without the annex.
Second, I urge you to use every tool at your disposal to generate financing for health, and improve efficiency, as you build a more self-reliant future, free from aid dependency.
WHO stands ready to support all Member States to do that, and we can support you both in designing medium-term and short-term solutions.
And third, I urge you to seize this opportunity to work with us to build a stronger, more empowered and more independent WHO, that is better able to serve all countries.
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in the Regional Office, and with all Member States as we work together to promote, provide and protect health in the Western Pacific, and everywhere.
Vinaka vaka levu. Thank you very much.