Your Excellency Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, a humble leader.
I had the chance to fly to Belém with His Excellency the Prime Minister on a commercial flight. He was travelling in economy and carrying his own luggage. I was so touched by that. Thank you for your humility, Your Excellency.
My dear friend Tore, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you for the invitation to address you, and also to celebrate Norway and Tore.
I thank also Norway for its strong support for WHO.
Since WHO was founded more than 77 years ago, the world has seen great improvements in global health.
Global life expectancy has increased from 46 to 71 years, with the greatest gains in the poorest countries.
Smallpox has been eradicated and polio is on the brink.
In the past 25 years, deaths from HIV have dropped by two-thirds, deaths from malaria by one-third, and deaths from TB by half.
Maternal mortality has fallen by 40%, child mortality has more than halved, and tobacco use has dropped by 40% – all the progress that Prime Minister Støre said earlier.
Of course, WHO cannot claim sole credit for any of these achievements.
They’re the result of hard work by countries, supported by many partners and individuals – including Norway and my good friend Tore.
Tore’s contribution to global health is immense, but he does not get the recognition he deserves.
He played a key role in convincing the Government of Norway to support the founding of Gavi, as we know, and to keeping health at the core of Norwegian foreign policy.
He was also influential in establishing the Global Fund, the Every Woman Every Child initiative, the Global Financing Facility, Roll Back Malaria, the Medicines for Malaria Venture and CEPI, and others – it’s a long list.
In my own country Ethiopia, he conducted groundbreaking research on leprosy when he was director at the Armaur Hansen Research Institute, which still awards an annual prize in his name to young Ethiopian researchers. That’s capacity-building in action.
He brought his knowledge and experience to WHO as Director of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, or TDR.
In that role, he organized a clinical trial for a drug combination for leprosy that has now become the cornerstone of leprosy elimination efforts.
He also organized a huge clinical trial of insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets, which led to a change in WHO’s strategy that has saved millions of lives.
I could go on and on.
These are just a few of Tore’s many contributions. He made a huge difference to many of the most pressing global health challenges of our time.
We continue to need leaders like Tore to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, of which there are many.
Some old, some new; some technical, some financial, and some political problems:
Wars and conflicts; displacement; outbreaks; inequities;
The growing burden of noncommunicable diseases and mental health disorders;
The steady march of antimicrobial resistance, the overshadowing threat of climate change, and the ever-present danger of pandemics.
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals has stalled, even reversed in some cases;
Many countries are facing economic difficulties and financial constraints;
While sudden and unplanned cuts to foreign aid this year have had a disastrous impact on health in many countries and communities, as Prime Minister Støre said earlier.
WHO is supporting countries to mitigate the impact of these disruptions, sustain essential health services and protect lives.
But I also believe that in the crisis lies an opportunity to leave behind the era of aid dependency, and transition to a new future of sustainable self-reliance, based on increased domestic resources.
Likewise, this year has been one of the most difficult in WHO’s history.
The announcement by the United States that it intends to withdraw from WHO, combined with cuts in funding from other countries, have left us with no choice but to reduce significantly the size of our global workforce.
But again, I believe this crisis is an opportunity for WHO to emerge stronger, more empowered, more independent and more focused on its core mandate. We’re working hard to make WHO future-proof and prevent shocks like this.
At this year’s World Health Assembly, Member States sent a strong signal that they want a strong WHO.
First, the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement was a generational achievement, and a demonstration that in our divided world, countries can still work together to find common ground. Multilateralism still works.
Second, the approval of the next increase in assessed contributions is a major step towards WHO’s long-term financial stability and sustainability.
Once again, I think Prime Minister Støre and Norway for its support as one of the largest contributors of core voluntary and thematic funds to the World Health Organization.
The world needs a strong WHO, and the world needs strong global health leaders like Dr Tore Godal.
I have had the honour of calling Tore my colleague, my brother, my friend for most of my professional life. We have known each other for many, many years.
It’s people like Tore that show the rest of us what is possible if our vision is big enough.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that I have decided to award Dr Tore Godal with the WHO Director-General’s Award for Global Health.
Tore, I invite you to the World Health Assembly next year to receive the award and address the Assembly. I know there are many things you would like to say to the world.
Congratulations. I look forward to reading your biography when it is translated into English. And I look forward to seeing you at the World Health Assembly next year.
Tusen takk.