Thread by @WHO

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/cxTy9zI2MTAy…

On the 30th of January last year, I declared a global health emergency over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

At the time, outside #China there were less than 100 cases of #COVID19, and no deaths"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1253034861033656320?s=20

"I wish to be very clear: a public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alarm under international law"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1368958528870842373?s=20

"Over the next days and weeks, we continued to sound that alarm loud and clear, and we continued giving countries the strategies, the guidance and the tools they needed to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to the spread of this new virus"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"On the 5th of February, we started our daily press conferences, informing the world about the risks this new virus posed and the steps that governments and individuals needed to take to stay safe"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"We continued to warn that the world had a narrow window of opportunity to prepare for and prevent a potential pandemic. One of the things we still need to understand is why some countries acted on those warnings, while others were slower to react"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"In the following weeks, the number of affected countries and the number of cases globally grew rapidly, which led us to describe #COVID19 as a pandemic on the 11th of March last year"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1237777021742338049?s=20

"But we must be clear that that was not the moment at which we sounded the highest level of alarm. That moment was on the 30th of January"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1222968733829865477?s=20

"Right now, WHO’s focus is on supporting all countries to end the #COVID19 pandemic, including with vaccines and the public health measures that have been the bedrock of the response for 15 months"-@DrTedros

"We have come so far, we have suffered so much, and we have lost so many. We cannot – we must not – squander the progress we have made.

We have the tools to control the #COVID19 pandemic, but we can only do it if we use them consistently & equitably"-@DrTedros

"Science, solutions and solidarity remain our guide.

There are no shortcuts"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1368959550452363265?s=20

"As you know, today is #InternationalWomensDay.

In many ways, women have suffered disproportionately from the #COVID19 pandemic.

We have seen appalling increases in violence against women, and reduced access to services for sexual and reproductive health"-@DrTedros

"In relative terms, employment losses have been higher for women than for men.

Women have also borne an additional and disproportionate burden of care for children and older people.

But women have also been at the forefront of the #COVID19 response"-@DrTedros

"About 70% of all #healthworkers globally are women, and they have played a key role in delivering care and saving lives.

But although they make up the majority of the global health workforce, women only hold 25% of leadership roles in health"-@DrTedros

"In Feb, WHO launched the Gender Equal Health & Care Workforce Initiative to:
-increase the proportion of 👩‍🦰 in leadership in health & care
-promote equal pay
-protect 👩‍🦱 in health & care from sexual harassment & violence
-to ensure safe & decent working conditions"-@DrTedros

"I’m delighted to welcome Dr @RoopaDhatt, the Executive Director of @womeninGH.

We look forward to our continued partnership to ensure women everywhere get the opportunities, the recognition, & the safe & dignified working conditions they deserve"-@DrTedros

"Around the 🌍, 👩‍🔬 are leading R&D & response in many areas of health. A new “Women in Science” compendium compiled by the Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases, celebrates 15 👩‍🔬 working in Africa, Latin America & Asia"-@DrTedros bit.ly/3uZFNhH

"I’m delighted to be joined 2 women who created 2 of the #COVID19 vaccines now being rolled out 🌍:
Prof. Sarah Gilbert, @UniofOxford, who developed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
Dr Özlem Türeci, co-founder & CMO of BioNTech, & developer of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine"-@DrTedros

"Professor Gilbert and Dr Türeci, congratulations to both of you for your pioneering work, and on behalf of the whole world, thank you for the #COVID19 vaccines that are now bringing hope to so many people"-@DrTedros #ACTogether #VaccinEquity

"Finally, to mark #InternationalWomensDay, WHO is today launching a new Global #BreastCancer Initiative, to reduce mortality from breast cancer by 2.5% every year until 2040, saving 2.5 million lives"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1368839284963295232?s=20

"#BreastCancer has now overtaken lung cancer as the 🌍’s most-diagnosed cancer. Survival 5 years after diagnosis now exceeds 80% in most high-income countries, but survival rates are much lower in lower-income countries. There is much we can do to save lives"-@DrTedros #WomensDay

"And finally finally, our work at WHO wouldn't be possible without our own incredible women, incl. those you see here today – Ana Maria, @Kate_L_OBrien, @mvankerkhove, @mariangelasimao, @doctorsoumya & @SCBriand – and thousands of others you don’t see all over the 🌍"-@DrTedros

"To all of our women colleagues, I want to say thank you for everything you do every day to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable"-@DrTedros #InternationalWomensDay

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1368965763730731013?s=20