Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,
We continue to see concerning trends for COVID-19 ahead of the winter season in the northern hemisphere.
Deaths are increasing in some parts of the Middle East and Asia, ICU admissions are increasing in Europe and hospitalizations are increasing in several regions.
Still, data are limited.
Only 43 countries – less than a quarter of WHO Member States – are reporting deaths to WHO, and only 20 provide information on hospitalizations.
Globally, there is not one variant that is dominant. The variant of interest EG.5 is on the rise, while the XBB subvariants are declining.
The BA.2.86 variant has been detected in small numbers in 11 countries.
WHO is monitoring this variant closely to assess its transmissibility and potential impact.
One of WHO’s biggest concerns is the low level of at-risk people who have received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine recently. Our message is not to wait to get an additional dose if it is recommended for you.
Yesterday, WHO published an annex to our global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19, which further supports countries in five critical areas: collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures and coordination.
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The increase in hospitalizations and deaths shows that COVID is here to stay, and that we will continue to need tools to fight it.
Over three years ago, WHO and our partners launched the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, or C-TAP, to facilitate sharing of intellectual property, knowledge and innovations for vaccines, tests, treatments and other tools.
Last week, C-TAP announced three new licensing agreements acquired through the Medicines Patent Pool:
Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp. offered its patent and know-how for its COVID-19 vaccine;
The Spanish National Research Council shared a second license for a vaccine prototype;
And the University of Chile shared its technology for a COVID-19 assay for quantifying neutralizing antibodies.
I thank the three institutions for sharing their technology and expertise with C-TAP, which demonstrates proof of concept of the model.
WHO is now reviewing the C-TAP model with a view to developing a new, broader access model for technologies, which we plan to announce by the end of the year.
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Now a few words about the various emergencies to which WHO is responding around the world.
First to Sudan, where the humanitarian situation is continuing to deteriorate.
About 65% of the population has no access to health services and more than 70% of health facilities in conflict areas are not functioning.
The implications are horrific. Every day, nine patients with renal dialysis die, and dialysis centres in four states have closed due to lack of supplies.
In addition to supporting 11 hospitals, WHO is now rolling out 12 mobile health clinics to provide life-saving and essential health services to people with no access.
An additional 12 mobile clinics will be launched later this month.
Meanwhile, attacks on health have continued to increase.
So far, WHO has verified 56 attacks on health care, leading to 11 deaths and 38 injuries.
WHO condemns in the strongest terms the increasing attacks on health care in Sudan, and the occupation of health facilities.
The Sudan crisis has displaced close to 5 million people, including 1 million who have fled to neighbouring countries.
The health situation at Sudan’s borders is dire, with a combination of disease outbreaks, impact of extreme weather events, hunger and malnutrition.
WHO personnel and Emergency Medical Teams are on the ground, treating patients, delivering medical supplies, training health workers, and ensuring health facilities are functioning.
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Now to Bangladesh, which is experiencing its most severe outbreak of dengue on record.
Since the outbreak began in April, more than 135 thousand cases and 650 deaths have been reported, including 300 deaths reported in August alone.
The outbreak is putting huge pressure on the health system.
Cases are starting to decline in the capital Dhaka, but are increasing in other parts of the country.
WHO is supporting the authorities to strengthen surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical management, vector control, risk communication and community engagement.
We have trained doctors and deployed experts on the ground.
We have also provided supplies to test for dengue and to support care for patients.
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Finally to Nigeria, which is experiencing a severe outbreak of diphtheria.
So far, more than 9000 suspected cases have been reported across 17 states, with 307 deaths.
This is the second wave of diphtheria this year.
Diphtheria is a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease, caused by a bacterium which can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, with a higher mortality rate in young children.
In response, WHO is supporting the government to improve vaccination, surveillance, case management and risk communication.
We are also working with partners to increase access to vaccines and antitoxin.
This outbreak and others highlight the need to increase routine vaccination to stop these outbreaks before they start.
Tarik, back to you.