Thread by @WHO

Opening of the resumed #WHA73 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/cnevIDI2MTAy…

Ms Keva Bain, Permanent Representative of the #Bahamas🇧🇸 to the UN in Geneva is the President of the 73rd World Health Assembly #WHA73

Watch live ▶️ bit.ly/WHA_73

Five Vice-Presidents of the 73rd World Health Assembly #WHA73:
China🇨🇳
Congo🇨🇬
San Marino🇸🇲
Sudan🇸🇩
Thailand🇹🇭

Watch live ▶️ bit.ly/WHA_73

"First of all, I would like to recognize Her Royal Highness Princess Muna for her tireless support over almost six decades for nurses and midwives"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

"In this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, we have become even more acutely aware of the incredible contribution that nurses and midwives make, from the first moments of life to the last"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325741499133399040?s=20

"Your Royal Highness [Princess Muna], thank you for your dedication and service to health and humanity. It is with great pleasure that I bestow on you the Director-General’s award"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325741499133399040?s=20

"I would also like to thank our sisters and brothers from Tonga for their wonderful performance"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

"I have such fond memories of my trip to Tonga and other Pacific nations last year, and I want to assure you of my commitment to small island developing states and the challenges you face"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1159606125110730752?s=20

"I’m sorry we weren’t able to have you in person here in Geneva – but even from the other side of the world, you have lifted our spirits and touched our hearts. Thank you"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325742491853873152?s=20

"Two weeks ago, I became a grandfather.

As I looked into my granddaughter Mia’s face for the first time and held her tiny hand, I experienced the same joy, wonder, hope, pride and love as any parent or grandparent"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1322626968706306056?s=20

"But like any parent or grandparent, that joy was tinged with worry.

I wonder what sort of world Mia will grow up in.

Although she knows nothing about it, the #COVID19 pandemic will shape her life and the world she grows up in"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325744097907380224?s=20

"Almost 50 million cases of #COVID19 have now been reported to WHO, and more than 1.2 million people have lost their lives.

Millions more have died due to disruption of essential health services"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"But the #COVID19 pandemic has also taken a toll in ways that no one can measure.

We can’t measure the grief of families who weren’t able to say goodbye to their loved ones.

We can’t measure the fear felt by so many in the face of an uncertain future"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"No one knows the long-term effects of this virus on the human body, or on the type of world our children and grandchildren will inherit"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

"Although this is a global crisis, we must remember that countries have responded differently, and they have been affected differently.

Half of all #COVID19 cases and deaths are in just four countries"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"There are many countries and cities that have successfully prevented or controlled #COVID19 transmission with a comprehensive, evidence-based approach"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1323301146145017856?s=20

"Nevertheless, several countries, especially in Europe and the Americas, have now re-introduced restrictions to address the new wave of #COVID19 infections they are facing, and prevent their health systems from being overwhelmed"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"We might be tired of #COVID19. But it is not tired of us.

Yes, it preys on those in weaker health. But it preys on other weaknesses, too: inequality, division, denial, wishful thinking and wilful ignorance"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"We cannot negotiate with #COVID19, nor close our eyes and hope it goes away.

It pays no heed to political rhetoric or conspiracy theories.

Our only hope is science, solutions and solidarity"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325746027522105351?s=20

"That is what WHO has been doing since the beginning.

We’ve advanced science by bringing together thousands of experts to analyse the ever-evolving evidence and distil it into guidance, and identify a research roadmap to fill the gaps in our knowledge"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

"More than 600 draft guidance documents have been produced, with up to 9 million downloads per month"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

who.int/emergencies/di…

"Through the Solidarity Trial, we’ve run one of the largest and most diverse clinical trials, to generate robust data on therapeutics"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

bit.ly/COVID19Solidar…

"We’ve given countries the solutions they need by sending more than 285 million essential medical products to 168 countries and territories, including masks, gloves, gowns, goggles, swabs, tests and more"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

"We’ve delivered almost 13,000 oxygen concentrators to 110 countries, and in several countries we’re designing and building oxygen generation plants"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1275898735873208322?s=20

"The OpenWHO.org learning platform has provided free online training in 17 different topics, in 41 languages, with more than 4.5 million user registrations from all over the world, providing powerful proof-of-concept for the WHO Academy"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #WHA73

"And we have worked day and night to foster solidarity.

When the history of the #COVID19 pandemic is written, I believe that the ACT-Accelerator will be recorded as one of its standout successes"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #WHA73

bit.ly/2S0Lx8h

"Even as we use the tools we have to suppress transmission & save lives, we know we need better tools to bring #COVID19 under control. The ACT-Accelerator is a unique mechanism with 2 aims:
-to develop vaccines, diagnostics & therapeutics fast
-to allocate them fairly"-@DrTedros

"And it’s delivering real results.

In September we reached an agreement to make 120 million new rapid #COVID19 tests available to low- and middle-income countries"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325747551040106496?s=20

"We’ve secured courses of #dexamethasone – the only medicine shown to reduce the risk of death so far – for up to 4.5 million #COVID19 patients in lower-income countries"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #WHA73

"And together with our partners @gavi and @CEPIvaccines, COVAX is supporting the development of 9 #COVID19 vaccines, with more in the pipeline.

186 countries and economies are now participating in the COVAX facility"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #WHA73

"The world has come together as never before to ensure these life-saving tools are developed, produced and allocated fairly as global public goods, not private commodities that become one more reason some people are left behind"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #WHA73

"That’s why WHO was proud to join #CostaRica in May to launch C-TAP, the #COVID19 Technology Access Pool, and it’s why we welcome 🇮🇳 and 🇿🇦’s submission to the @wto to waive certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement during the pandemic"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1266384585270554624?s=20

"The #COVID19 pandemic has highlighted that healthier populations, universal health coverage and global health security are deeply intertwined"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"Although WHO has been fully focused on coordinating and supporting the response to the #COVID19 pandemic globally, regionally and nationally, we have continued to implement much of our existing workplans on each of WHO’s “triple billion” targets"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"1⃣, in our commitment to make 1 billion people safer from health emergencies, #COVID19 is far from the only emergency to which WHO has responded"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"It hasn’t made the headlines, but so far this year we have responded to 60+ emergencies, incl. major outbreaks of Chikungunya in 🇹🇩, yellow fever in 🇬🇦 & 🇹🇬, measles in 🇲🇽, conflicts in the Sahel, Middle East & Caucasus, storms in the 🇵🇭 and 🇻🇳, & much more"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"After an 18-month struggle, under the leadership of the #DRC government and with multiple partners, we ended the #Ebola outbreak in the country’s east..."-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1276102325908713472?s=20

"...– one of the most complex health emergencies WHO has ever faced, made even more difficult by the 🌍’s largest #measles outbreak"-@DrTedros #Ebola #DRC #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1276102325908713472?s=20

"And we’re now counting down to the end of the #Ebola outbreak in western #DRC"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"Following the devastating blast in #Beirut in August, WHO and our partners provided care for the injured, mental health support for #healthworkers and communities, and helped to rebuild destroyed hospitals"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"We provided urgent support to thousands of refugees and migrants in #Greece after the fire at the asylum centre on Lesvos"-@DrTedros #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO_Europe/status/1309123419724685312?s=20

"And we’re working to leverage existing partnerships to build a global health emergency workforce to expand, train and standardize high-quality public health and medical assistance to Member States"-@DrTedros #WHA73

"There have been successes and setbacks in our efforts to rid the world of #polio.

Type 3 polio has been eradicated, and the African region has been declared free of wild poliovirus"-@DrTedros #EndPolio #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1298305409959071745?s=20

"Although the #COVID19 pandemic disrupted #polio vaccination campaigns in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have now restarted them"-@DrTedros #EndPolio #WHA73

"We remain fully focused both on the final eradication of #polio, and on the transition from the polio programme in countries, to ensure the significant investments made in the polio response continue to deliver a return in stronger health systems"-@DrTedros #EndPolio #WHA73

"And the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board has issued its second report, which lays out the lessons the world must learn and the concrete actions we can and must take to keep the world safe"-@DrTedros #AWorldInDisorder #WHA73

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1305493963755761664?s=20

"2⃣, there has been progress towards our target to see 1 billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage"-@DrTedros #HealthForAll #WHA73 ⬇️

"Much of our work this year has been directed at supporting Member States to maintain essential health services, which have been severely disrupted in many countries as a result of the #COVID19 pandemic"-@DrTedros #HealthForAll #WHA73

"In a WHO survey of 105 countries in August, almost all reported disruption to 25 essential health services, incl. outpatient care, diagnosis & treatment for communicable & to #BeatNCDS, family planning, mental health conditions & more"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #HealthForAll #WHA73

"In response, we’ve supported immunization services in Africa, respiratory triage centres in the Middle East, primary care in Europe and much, much more"-@DrTedros #COVID19 #HealthForAll #WHA73

"As part of the Intl. Year of the Nurse & the Midwife, we published the 1st State of the World’s Nursing Report, showing the 🌍 is facing a global shortfall of 5.9M nurses"-@DrTedros #WHA73 #SupportNursesAndMidwives

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1247426610556555264?s=20

"We launched the WHO Listed Authorities initiative, to assess and recognize national regulatory authorities, and speed up the approval of and access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.

We prequalified the world’s first vaccines for Ebola and malaria"-@DrTedros #WHA73