Honourable Chair, Minister Dr Salih Al Hasnawi,
Honourable vice-chairs, Minister Dr Musab Nazzal Al-Ali and Minister Dr Haitham Ibrahim Awadalla,
Honourable Ministers and heads of delegation,
Regional Director Dr Hanan Balkhy,
Regional Director Emeritus Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari
Dear colleagues and friends,
As salamu alaikum.
In addition to the Director-General’s video message, I am pleased to deliver these remarks on his behalf.
It’s a great honour to be with you.
Our sincere thanks to the Government of Egypt for hosting us, and for their steadfast support for WHO and health in the Region.
Let me begin by welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza, after two years of war and suffering.
We thank the United States for its leadership, along with Egypt and Qatar and all others who helped make this happen.
WHO was on the ground before this war began, we have been on the ground throughout, and we will remain on the ground to support the people of Gaza.
We must all hope and pray that this ceasefire becomes the foundation for a durable and permanent peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike, and for the region and indeed the world, as a whole.
We urge all countries to continue to work for peace in Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen and the Region’s other trouble spots.
As Dr Tedros always says, there is no health without peace, and no peace without health.
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I thank the Regional Director for her steadfast leadership and vision for health in this region.
Progress on the three regional flagship initiatives has been impressive — improving access to medicines, vaccines and medical products; strengthening the health workforce; and accelerating action on substance use.
Likewise, there is encouraging news on each of the six priorities of the regional strategic operational plan.
First, on promoting health, it’s pleasing to see many countries taking steps to reduce tobacco use, improve nutrition, eliminate trans-fats, prevent violence against women and children, reduce road traffic injuries, promote better mental health and address the health impacts of climate change.
Second, on access to quality care, countries are developing health service packages, improving quality of care, strengthening health system resilience, and enhancing surveillance for both communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
There are also many disease-specific triumphs to celebrate:
Eleven countries are on track to eliminate tuberculosis.
Egypt has been certified as malaria-free and validated for hepatitis B control, Jordan became the first country in the world verified for leprosy elimination; and Pakistan eliminated trachoma as a public-health problem.
Third, we are all painfully aware of the burden of emergencies that afflict this region, including conflict, insecurity, displacement, outbreaks and disasters.
We’re encouraged to see countries taking steps to strengthen their capacities for prevention, preparedness and response, including for surveillance, detection and reporting of public health events.
In addition to our response to the conflict in Gaza, WHO is supporting the response to the region’s other emergencies, including in Sudan, the world’s largest humanitarian emergency.
Fourth, on polio, we continue to support Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last mile, as well as responding to outbreaks of variant polio in several countries.
The road to eradication is not always smooth, but we are continuing our journey, and remain confident of reaching our destination. We have set a target to interrupt transmission of wild poliovirus next year.
Inshallah, we'll get there, with the laser focus and commitment of the Regional Director, the Member States, and partners.
Fifth, on evidence-based policy-making, it’s pleasing to see that several countries are strengthening their health information systems, increasing their use of WHO guidelines, and developing evidence-informed national guidelines, strategies, and implementation plans.
And sixth, on optimizing WHO’s performance, as you all know, these are difficult times for WHO and our staff, as we go through a process of restructuring and realignment.
We started at the top, reducing the size of our senior management and the number of directors at headquarters by almost half.
We are now almost done with the very painful process of saying goodbye to a number of colleagues.
These are people who have served the world in many ways, including under extreme pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, we see this crisis as an opportunity, and we are confident that WHO will emerge sharper, more focused on its core mandate and more independent.
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 common problems.
And that is what also brings the regional health leadership together this week.
The Regional Committee meeting agenda covers many issues of shared importance that all of us will be discussing in the next two days.
As we implement the 14th General Programme of Work and its sharp focus on promoting, providing, and protecting health, we can see that this Region is already aligned with its priorities.
The recent shifts in the global health and aid architecture, while hugely disruptive, also provide an opportunity - to move away from dependency on aid and to build a future based on independence, self-reliance, and solidarity.
Excellencies, 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.
Second, I urge all Member States to use every tool at your disposal to generate domestic financing for health, and improve efficiency, as we build a more self-reliant future, free from aid dependency.
And third, I urge all Member States to seize this opportunity to work together to build a stronger, more empowered and more independent WHO, that is better able to serve all countries.
Thank you all once again for your commitment to health – not as a luxury for some, but a right for all the people of this region, and the world.
Shukran. Thank you so much.