Thread by @WHO

Live with @DrTedros from the WHO weekly Member States information session on #COVID19 pscp.tv/w/cdWb0DI2MTAy…

"The #COVID19 pandemic has left no country untouched. It has humbled all of us"-@DrTedros

"It is often said that disease knows no borders. It does not care about our political differences, and it disregards the distinctions we draw between health and economy, lives and livelihoods.
The #COVID19 pandemic has disrupted them all"-@DrTedros

"It [#COVID19] has exploited the inequalities in our health systems and the schisms in our societies. It has exposed existing inequities, widening and deepening the cracks between us"-@DrTedros

"This once-in-a-century pandemic has hammered home a critical lesson: when it comes to health, our destinies are intertwined"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"The virus has upended health systems in some of the world’s wealthiest nations, while some countries that have mounted a successful response have been of modest means"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"We know that when countries take a comprehensive approach based on fundamental public health measures – find, isolate, test and treat cases, and trace and quarantine contacts - the #COVID19 outbreak can be brought under control"-@DrTedros

"But in most of the 🌍 the virus is not under control. It is getting worse.
11.8+M cases of #COVID19 have now been reported to WHO. More than 544,000 lives have been lost.
The pandemic is still accelerating.
The total number of cases has doubled in the last 6 weeks"-@DrTedros

"Since this outbreak began, led by hero #healthworkers, countries have worked around the clock to save lives.
I will never forget the images of health workers who wore a mask for so long while on shift, that they had marks imprinted on their face"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"And colleagues at the WHO Secretariat have worked tirelessly to coordinate the global response, provide evidence-based scientific and technical guidance, catalyze research and provide direct support to countries most in need"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Everyone is fighting hard against the virus but so many lives have been lost.
But the health effects of the pandemic go far beyond the suffering caused by the virus itself"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"It is unravelling many of the gains we have made fighting some of the world's most devastating diseases"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Hundreds of millions of children are at risk of missing out on routine vaccines for tuberculosis, pneumonia, measles, polio, cholera, diarrhoea and others. Many countries are running low on HIV medicines"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Refugees are among the most vulnerable to the pandemic, already facing limited access to adequate shelter, water, nutrition, sanitation and health services. #COVID19 could push them over the brink"-@DrTedros

"And around the world, in countries rich and poor, many more people are now going hungry, with estimates from the @WFP that global hunger could increase to more than 270 million people. These are not numbers, these are people"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"As countries struggle with this unprecedented threat, they face a delicate balance between protecting their people and maintaining essential health services, while minimizing social and economic damage, and respecting human rights"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"There are no easy answers.
But some nations have brought the virus under control. We must learn from their experience and follow their lead"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"As a global community, we must learn from both the positives efforts made to suppress the virus and the challenges that have emerged from this global hardship"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"It has been made devastatingly clear that the best defense against health emergencies is a strong health system. A strong health system is a resilient health system"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"That is why national governments & local governments need to invest in preparedness & essential public health functions.
Universal health coverage is essential to our collective global health security. #HealthForAll was the whole mark for WHO for the last 70 years"-@DrTedros

"After every outbreak in recent history, there are lessons that we have learned to protect ourselves better. And the world has made some progress in pandemic preparedness. But it is also clear that we have much more work to do"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"For years, many of us warned that a catastrophic respiratory pandemic was inevitable. It wasn't a question of if, but when.
Still the 🌍 wasn't ready
Our systems weren't ready
Our communities weren't ready
Our supply chains collapsed
It's time for honest reflection"-@DrTedros

"All of us must look in the mirror – WHO, every Member State & all involved in the response.
We're in the midst of the battle of our lives & we have to do better. Not just now, but for the future.
These threats will never stop & in all likelihood they will get worse"-@DrTedros

"We need to look at the performance of our national surveillance and response systems, how we shared information with our communities, and whether we earned their trust, how we governed, and whether our global health architecture is fit for purpose"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"In May, the world came together for the first virtual #WHA73.
194 Member States passed a landmark resolution, which recognized the leadership role of WHO and the role of the @UN system in coordinating the comprehensive global response"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"It called on Member States to implement a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to ensure a more coherent, fairer and effective global response.

It called for the fair distribution of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"In line with our call for an after-action review, Member States agreed that WHO should initiate an independent and comprehensive evaluation of the lessons learned from the international health response to #COVID19"-@DrTedros

"This is a time for self-reflection, to look at the world we live in and to find ways to strengthen our collaboration as we work together to save lives and bring this pandemic under control"-@DrTedros #COVID19

Together, we now have a once in a generation opportunity to prove to each other that we can be greater than the sum of our parts.

The magnitude of this pandemic, which has touched virtually everyone in the world, clearly deserves a commensurate evaluation"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"With this in mind, I'm proud to announce that former Prime Minister @HelenClarkNZ & former President @MaEllenSirleaf have agreed to serve as co-chairs of the evaluation committee, which we are calling the Independent panel for Pandemic Preparedness & Response"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Prime Minister @HelenClarkNZ of #NewZealand went to on lead the @UNDP. President @MaEllenSirleaf of #Liberia is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Prime Minister @HelenClarkNZ and President @MaEllenSirleaf were selected through a process of broad consultation with Member States and world experts. I cannot imagine two more strong-minded, independent leaders to help guide us through this critical learning process"-@DrTedros

"The following are some proposals for how the panel can take its work forward.
-The terms of reference for the panel will be developed in consultation with Member States.
-I propose that the co-chairs will select the other members of the panel"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"-We encourage all Member States to offer suggestions for world-class candidates that can fulfil the role.
-I also propose that the panel will have an independent secretariat"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"-To keep Member States up to date on the progress and any interim findings, I propose that we have one mission briefing per month dedicated to updates on implementation of the resolution and for consultation"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"I've consulted with @drharshvardhan, the Chair of the WHO Executive Board, in the context of the ongoing & unprecedented public health emergency relating to #COVID19. In line with what we agreed, I am proposing to call a Special Session of the Executive Board in Sept"-@DrTedros

"In November, we will resume the World Health Assembly, and the Independent panel will present an interim report.

In January, the Executive Board will hold its regular session, where we will further discuss the panel’s work"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"In May of next year, at the World Health Assembly, the panel will present its substantive report on the health findings"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"While the independent evaluation panel performs its work, there are obvious low hanging fruit that can be acted on, such as universal peer review and the binary PHEIC mechanism for the International Health Regulations, which we have already started working on"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"The Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme will also continue its existing work"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Even as we fight this pandemic, we must be readying ourselves for future global outbreaks and the many other challenges of our time such as antimicrobial resistance, inequality and the climate crisis"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"#COVID19 has taken so much from us. But it is also giving us an opportunity to break with the past and build back better.
We cannot go back to the way we did things before, my friends. Business as usual has failed us"-@DrTedros

"This cannot be another blue-ribbon panel that issues a report that goes up on the bookshelf.

We must come together in a global conversation, to take these hard-won lessons and turn them into action"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"My friends, make no mistake. The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself.

Rather, it is the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels. We cannot defeat this pandemic as a divided world"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"The #COVID19 pandemic is a test of global solidarity and global leadership. The virus thrives on division but is thwarted when we unite"-@DrTedros

"My hope is that the defining crisis of our age will likewise remind all people that the best way forward – the only way forward – is together"-@DrTedros #COVID19

Our 🌍 is challenged in ways we never could've forecasted. How we can best prepare for the future is vital. I'm honoured to help build understanding of how to move forward. If our panel can reinforce the need for multilateralism, we will have done our job-
@HelenClarkNZ #COVID19

Look forward to doing all we can to respond to the challenges that have prevented us from being united to address effects of #COVID19 and ensure better health systems around the world-
@MaEllenSirleaf

The full remarks by @DrTedros #COVID19 👇
bit.ly/2AM63EU