Thread by @WHO

LIVE: @DrTedros' opening remarks at the #EB148. pscp.tv/w/ctP-DjI2MTAy…

"40 years ago, a new virus emerged and sparked a pandemic. Life-saving medicines were developed, but more than a decade passed before the world’s poor got access to them"-@DrTedros #EB148

"12 years ago, a new virus emerged and sparked a pandemic. Life saving vaccines were developed, but by the time the world’s poor got access, the pandemic was over"-@DrTedros #EB148

"One year ago, a new virus emerged and sparked a pandemic. Life-saving vaccines have been developed. What happens next is up to us"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"We have an opportunity to beat history; to write a different story; to avoid the mistakes of the HIV and H1N1 pandemics"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"The development and approval of safe and effective vaccines less than a year after the emergence of a new virus is a stunning scientific achievement, and a much-needed source of hope"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"Vaccines are the shot in the arm we all need - literally and figuratively.

The recent emergence of rapidly-spreading variants makes the rapid and equitable rollout of vaccines all the more important"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"But we now face the real danger that even as vaccines bring hope to some, they become another brick in the wall of inequality between the world’s haves and have-nots"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351103969565831171?s=20

"It’s right that all governments want to prioritize vaccinating their own #healthworkers & older people first.
But it’s not right that younger, healthier adults in rich countries are vaccinated before health workers & older people in poorer countries"-@DrTedros #EB148
#ACTogether

"There will be enough vaccine for everyone. But right now, we must work together as one global family to prioritize those most at risk of severe disease and death, in all countries"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351104389377912833?s=20

"For the past 9 months, the @ACTAccelerator & the COVAX vaccines pillar have been laying the groundwork for the equitable distribution & deployment of vaccines.
We’ve overcome scientific, legal, logistical & regulatory barriers"-@DrTedros

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"We’ve secured 2 billion doses from five producers, with options on more than 1 billion more doses, and we aim to start deliveries in February.

COVAX is ready to deliver what it was created for"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351104950886133763?s=20

"But in recent weeks I have heard from several Member States who have questioned whether COVAX will get the vaccines it needs, and whether high-income countries will keep the promises they have made"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"As the first vaccines begin to be deployed, the promise of equitable access is at serious risk"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"More than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries.

Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country.

Not 25 million; not 25 thousand; 25"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351105562315005956?s=20

"I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351107170817990656?s=20

"Even as they speak the language of equitable access, some countries and companies continue to prioritize bilateral deals, going around COVAX, driving up prices and attempting to jump to the front of the queue"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"44 bilateral deals were signed last year, and at least 12 have already been signed this year"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351107651464269833?s=20

"This could delay COVAX deliveries and create exactly the scenario COVAX was designed to avoid, with hoarding, a chaotic market, an uncoordinated response, and continued social and economic disruption"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351107958873219073?s=20

"Not only does this me-first approach leave the world’s poorest & most vulnerable people at risk, it’s also self-defeating.

Ultimately, these actions will only prolong the #COVID19 pandemic, the restrictions needed to contain it, & human & economic suffering"-@DrTedros #EB148

"A recent study estimated that the economic benefits of equitable vaccine allocation for 10 high-income countries would be at least $153B in 2021, rising to $466B by 2025. That’s more than 12 times the total cost of the @ACTAccelerator"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"It’s not too late. I call on all countries to work together in solidarity to ensure that within the first 100 days of this year, vaccination of #healthworkers & older people is underway in all countries.
Together, we must change the rules of the game, in3⃣ ways"-@DrTedros #EB148

"1⃣ we call on countries with bilateral contracts – and control of supply – to be transparent on these contracts with COVAX, including on volumes, pricing and delivery dates"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351109269723226112?s=20

"We call on these countries to give much greater priority to COVAX’s place in the queue, & to share their own doses with COVAX, especially once they have vaccinated their own health workers & older populations, so that other countries can do the same"-@DrTedros #EB148 #ACTogether

"2⃣we call on vaccine producers to provide WHO with full data for regulatory review in real time, to accelerate approvals"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351109269723226112?s=20

"We also call on producers to allow countries with bilateral contracts to share doses with COVAX, and to prioritize supplying COVAX rather than new bilateral deals"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

"3⃣we call on all countries introducing vaccines to only use vaccines that meet rigorous international standards for safety, efficacy and quality, and to accelerate readiness for deployment"-@DrTedros #EB148

#COVID19 #ACTogether

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1351109269723226112?s=20

"The theme for #WorldHealthDay this year is 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲"-@DrTedros #EB148

"My challenge to all Member States is to ensure that by the #WorldHealthDay (7 April), #COVID19 vaccines are being administered in every country as a symbol of hope for overcoming both the pandemic & the inequalities that lie at the root of so many 🌍 health challenges"-@DrTedros

"The #COVID19 pandemic has lessons for all of us – for every Member State, and for the Secretariat.

All of us must have the humility to learn, to change, to innovate and to grow"-@DrTedros #EB148 #ACTogether

"The work of @TheIndPanel, the Review Committee of the International Health Regulations and the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme will all have recommendations for Member States and the Secretariat"-@DrTedros #EB148

"But several lessons are already staring us in the face.

1⃣ preparedness & response.

#COVID19 surprised even some of the world’s richest & most powerful nations. It caught them unprepared, & revealed a collective failure to invest in emergency preparedness"-@DrTedros #EB148

"Even before the #COVID19 pandemic, WHO was working to strengthen preparedness and response as part of our transformation, knowing that the next pandemic was just a matter of when, not if"-@DrTedros #EB148

"With the @WorldBank, we established @TheGPMB two years ago, we created a new Division of Emergency Preparedness, a new Science Division, and we developed new digital tools for surveillance and early warning"-@DrTedros #EB148

"At the #WHA73 I announced the creation of a new repository for specimens at a secure facility in Switzerland, to facilitate the voluntary sharing of viruses and the rapid development of medical countermeasures. We’re calling it the BioHub"-@DrTedros #EB148

"I’m pleased to say that in addition to previous commitments from 🇮🇹 & 🇹🇭, 🇿🇦 has now committed to share samples of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant with the BioHub. We encourage all Member States to share data and samples of the new variants in a timely way"-@DrTedros #EB148

"At #WHA73, I also proposed a new mechanism for strengthening preparedness based on mutual trust and mutual accountability – the Universal Health and Preparedness Review (UHPR). And I thank 🇧🇯 and 🇨🇫 for proposing this idea on behalf of the Africa Group"-@DrTedros #EB148

"The Universal Health and Preparedness Review is based on a voluntary mechanism of peer-to-peer review, led by Member States, to promote greater, more effective international cooperation by bringing nations and stakeholders together in a spirit of solidarity"-@DrTedros #EB148

"In December we briefed Member States on the UHPR, we have begun discussions to develop the tool, & in the coming weeks we plan to begin a pilot phase with the first group of countries that have volunteered"-@DrTedros #EB148

"2⃣ the health of humans, animals and the planet are intimately intertwined.

We can only protect and promote human health by fundamentally enhancing the monitoring and management the risks at the interface between humans, animals and ecosystems"-@DrTedros #EB148

"This is not a new idea, but the #COVID19 pandemic has brought it into sharper focus.

More than 70% of emerging diseases discovered in recent years are linked to animal-to-human transmission"-@DrTedros #EB148

"Over a decade ago WHO, @FAO & @OIEAnimalHealth came together as the tripartite to develop & promote the One Health concept. #COVID19 has shown that we must take our partnership to a new level (more than a concept), translating it into systems that keep people safer"-@DrTedros

"It’s also clear that One Health must be about more than zoonoses; it must address the full range of issues that affect the relationship between humans, animals and planet, including deforestation, intensive agriculture, pollution, climate change and so on"-@DrTedros #EB148

"Together with our partners in the tripartite and @UNEP, we have now agreed to establish a One Health High-Level Expert Council, supported by a joint secretariat"-@DrTedros #EB148

"The Council will analyse scientific evidence and policy responses in countries and advise the four agencies on actions to take and recommendations to develop"-@DrTedros #EB148

"Its first priority will be to examine and advise on immediate priorities for the prevention, prediction, detection, monitoring and response to emerging zoonoses with epidemic and pandemic potential"-@DrTedros #EB148

"We expect the 1st meeting of the council by the #WHA74, & we will keep you updated as the council & its agenda takes shape.
We must translate this high-level work into concrete systems to pick up signals of new outbreaks & contain them at source where possible"-@DrTedros #EB148

"At #WHA73, Member States requested the Secretariat to work with partners to identify the zoonotic source of the #COVID19 virus. 14 members of the intl. mission studying the virus origins have now arrived in #China. Another 3 are working with the team remotely"-@DrTedros #EB148

"No one should be in any doubt that this is a scientific exercise. The objective is to understand how & when the #COVID19 virus emerged, so that we can all take steps to prevent the emergence of other zoonotic pathogens in future"-@DrTedros #EB148

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1348597065023188994?s=20

"3⃣ the world needs a strong WHO.

Again, this is not a new realization. Those of us who have been working in global health for any length of time know the strengths and weaknesses of WHO"-@DrTedros #EB148

"Strengthening WHO is the focus of the transformation journey that we have been on together for the past three and a half years"-@DrTedros #EB148

"I provided an update on transformation in my remarks at #WHA73. I also refer you to the detailed progress report we published in Dec. We look forward to your further feedback this week on the paper on transforming for enhanced country impact"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1325783591591309313?s=20

"We appreciate the broad support for transformation expressed by Member States to date, and we welcome the comments made by the Chair of the Independent Expert Oversight Advisory Committee during PBAC last week that transformation is delivering results"-@DrTedros #EB148

"But we have also heard your call for more focus on transformational impact in countries.

Transformation is a journey. We have already come a long way, and we still have further to travel. In the coming year, we will continue to learn, to change and to listen"-@DrTedros #EB148

"As you know, at the end of last year, the Regional Directors and I decided to award the WHO Award of Excellence to the entire WHO workforce for their extraordinary efforts in the most extraordinary year"-@DrTedros #EB148

"In recognition of 2021 as the Intl. Year of Health & Care Workers, we've decided to make 2021 the Year of the Workforce, to focus on making WHO an organization that:
Attracts the best people
Gives them the best environment
Enables & empowers them to do & be their best"-@DrTedros

"Member States have themselves identified that one of the biggest barriers to WHO being the best it can be is sustainable and predictable financing"-@DrTedros #EB148

"We know Member States are serious about strengthening WHO so they must be serious about sustainable financing, & about addressing the gulf between what is expected of us & the resources we have to do it.
I'd like to thank 🇫🇷&🇩🇪 for taking the lead on this issue"-@DrTedros #EB148

"The Secretariat has made significant efforts to address this issue, through the first WHO Investment Case, a new resource mobilization strategy, the first Partners Forum, and most recently, through the formation of @thewhof"-@DrTedros #EB148

"@thewhof is an independent legal entity that aims to generate $1B in the next three years from sources that WHO has not accessed before. Between 70 - 80% of those funds will be for WHO, and the remainder will be for other public health organizations"-@DrTedros #EB148

"@thewhof has a strong board led by Dr Thomas Zeltner, with representation from all regions, and its first Chief Executive Officer, @_AnilSoni, began his work at the beginning of this year"-@DrTedros #EB148

"We anticipate that @thewhof will help to diversify WHO’s donor base, and will be a source of further flexible funding.

However, there is still much work to be done to ensure WHO has sustainable and predictable funding it needs"-@DrTedros #EB148

"This week, you will consider a proposal to establish an inclusive working group to define the principles for what should be funded, develop options for how much funding is needed, and consider how those priorities should be funded"-@DrTedros #EB148

"If agreed by Member States, the working group could consider a proposal that will come back to this Board before going forward to the #WHA75"-@DrTedros #EB148

"We are committed to accountability, and to giving you value for money. But we ask Member States to ensure the Secretariat receives adequate money for value"-@DrTedros #EB148