Thread by @WHO

Watch LIVE: @DrTedros speaking at @FriendsofEurope festival of politics and ideas to transform Europe: Rethinking health systems

bit.ly/375GZqe

"The #COVID19 pandemic is radiating shock waves across countries, their populations and economies.
Europe is now seeing an increase in reported cases. More cases have been reported in each of the past 6 weeks than at the height of the first peak in March"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

"Even as we use every tool at our disposal to end the #COVID19 pandemic, we must all use this period of crisis as an opportunity to look in the mirror and ask what we must do differently"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

"Three fundamental shifts that WHO believes all countries must make:
1⃣invest in public health.
Too many countries have prioritised the medicalisation of their health systems at the expense of the basic measures that prevent people getting sick in the first place"-@DrTedros

"WHO believes that the single most important action all countries can take is to invest in essential public health functions:
-Immunization
-Surveillance
-Laboratory capacity
-Infection prevention & control
-Health promotion
-Vector control
-Improved water & sanitation"-@DrTedros

"It also includes essential governance functions, such as regulation to ensure quality and accessibility, and taxation to raise revenue.

These common goods for health provide an excellent return on investment. Yet they are regularly underutilized"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

"2⃣take a One Health approach.

The #COVID19 pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and planet, which we can only address with a One Health approach"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

"Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of #climatechange that is making our earth less habitable"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1289178979866300416?s=20

"3⃣go beyond the health sector.

We will not prevent the next pandemic by focusing only on health systems. The #COVID19 pandemic has affected every sector, so it stands to reason that every sector must be involved in the recovery, and in preparedness"-@DrTedros #StateOfEU

"We must address the reasons get people sick & die, in the air they breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink & the conditions in which they live & work.
Just as the pandemic requires an all-of-government & society response, so does promoting & protecting health"-@DrTedros