Thread by @WHO

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/c2P-1jI2MTAy…

"Wednesday’s announcement by the #UnitedStates🇺🇸 that it will support a temporary waiver of intellectual property protections for #COVID19 vaccines is a significant statement of solidarity and support for #VaccinEquity."-@DrTedros

"I know that this is not a politically easy thing to do, so I very much appreciate the leadership of the #UnitedStates🇺🇸, and we urge other countries to follow their example."-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390686666772332547?s=20

"I also want to emphasize that WHO values the incredible contribution of the private sector to the #COVID19 pandemic and to health in general."-@DrTedros

"We would not have the vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and devices that save lives and improve well-being around the world if it were not for the innovation of the private sector."-@DrTedros

"WHO supports companies making a fair return on their investment in research and development, for investment in further innovation."-@DrTedros

"We are in an unprecedented crisis that requires unprecedented action. #COVID19 cases are at a record high, almost 100 thousand people are dying globally each week, and we have a chronic vaccine crisis."-@DrTedros

"The @wto provisions for IP waivers were designed precisely for a situation like this. If we don’t use them now, then when?"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390687137843060739?s=20

"It’s also important to remember that intellectual property waivers will need to be accompanied by transfer of technology and know-how for these difficult-to-make #COVID19 vaccines."-@DrTedros

"We continue to encourage all Member States to support technology transfer through C-TAP, the #COVID19 Technology Access Pool."-@DrTedros

"We encourage governments to offer incentives to manufacturers to share technology & know-how.
And we encourage countries with the most vaccines to donate doses through COVAX, which is the fastest & most equitable way to increase the distribution of vaccines globally."-@DrTedros

"Just as it takes a comprehensive approach of public health measures to defeat #COVID19, so solving the vaccine crisis requires that we pull out all the stops.
WHO is continuing to explore every avenue for increasing access to vaccines globally."-@DrTedros

"This afternoon, WHO gave Emergency Use Listing to Sinopharm Beijing’s #COVID19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality."-@DrTedros

"This expands the list of #COVID19 vaccines that COVAX can buy, and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval, and to import and administer a vaccine."-@DrTedros

"The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, has also reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule."-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390687839344635908?s=20

"Vaccines remain a vital tool. But right now, the volume and distribution of vaccines is insufficient to end the #COVID19 pandemic, without the sustained and tailored application of public health measures that we know work."-@DrTedros

"The #COVID19 pandemic is a vivid demonstration that a health crisis is not just a health crisis; it can have dramatic consequences for livelihoods, businesses and economies."-@DrTedros

"The #COVID19 pandemic has shown that when health is at risk, everything is at risk. But when health is protected & promoted, individuals, families, communities, economies & nations can thrive.
That’s why universal health coverage is WHO’s top priority."-@DrTedros #HealthForAll

"But globally, we are going in the wrong direction. Around the world, more households are spending an increasing proportion of their income on health. And more people are being exposed to poverty as a result of out-of-pocket health spending."-@DrTedros

"It is clear that making progress towards universal health coverage cannot just be a matter for ministries of health, but takes an all-of-government approach, with leadership from the highest political levels, and close engagement with ministries of finance."-@DrTedros

"As we recover and rebuild, we have a unique moment to mobilize investments for healthier, more resilient, more productive and more sustainable societies."-@DrTedros

"We need a new narrative that makes #HealthForAll the central goal of public policies on innovation, industry, employment, environment and more."-@DrTedros

"That’s why we have established a new WHO Council on the Economics of #HealthForAll – to identify new ways to shape the global economy, and to build societies that are healthy, inclusive, equitable and sustainable."-@DrTedros

"The council comprises 11 distinguished experts in economics, health, government, finance & development from around the world."-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390689246214819844?s=20

"[The Council] is chaired by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, the Professor of the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, and Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London @ucl"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390689246214819844?s=20

"Professor Mazzucato, thank you for your leadership of this new council, and thank you for joining us today."-@DrTedros

"Thank you so much, Professor Mazzucato, and I very much look forward to the council’s work in the months and years ahead."-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1390689246214819844?s=20

"Finally, Wednesday marked the International Day of the Midwife.
To mark the day, WHO, @UNFPA, @world_midwives and other partners published the 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery report, which shows that the world currently faces a shortage of 900,000 #midwives."-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/who/status/1389828517140090884

"Fully investing in #midwives by 2035 would avert roughly two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year.
Midwives are not a cost, they’re an investment in a healthier, safer, fairer future for all of us."-@DrTedros