Thread by @WHO

Opening of the #WHA74 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/c3oFfDI2MTAy…

LIVE NOW: @DrTedros' opening remarks at the #WHA74 ⬇️

pscp.tv/w/c3oFfDI2MTAy…

"Lucy Nyambura is a health promotion officer in Mombasa City, 🇰🇪. When #COVID19 arrived last year, a strict lockdown was introduced, but it was met with strong resistance by the local community, who refused to be tested, isolated or treated"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"As she made her daily rounds, providing information about the dangers of the new virus, Lucy was insulted in the streets and she and her team sometimes had to stop working for their own safety"-@DrTedros #WHA74
#SupportHealthCareWorkers

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396760354043146241?s=20

"But Lucy kept going back to the community. After weeks of engaging leaders, things started to change. Communities started following #COVID19 guidelines & accepted to be tested. The spread of the virus was curtailed and the lockdown was removed"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Dr Gantsengel Purev is an intensive care specialist at the Central Military Hospital in Ulanbataar, 🇲🇳.

This is what he said:
“During my first shift, I lost my grandmother to #COVID19. She died in my arms"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"...[Dr Gantsengel Purev said] "During my last shift, 3 people died in an hour. My patients are no different to my 👵 & 👴. Many patients recover & leave the hospital. What keeps me going is two words from them: 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢.”"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396760809116680200?s=20

"Dr Catalin Denciu is an intensive care specialist in 🇷🇴. He was on duty in Nov 2020, caring for patients with #COVID19, when a 🔥 broke out in the 🏥.
10 patients died in the 🔥 & in trying to save others Dr Denciu suffered third-degree burns to 40% of his body"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Today we will honour him with an award for his service, sacrifice and example.

These are just a few examples. There are millions more; stories of courage, heartbreak, desperation, struggle and triumph"-@DrTedros #WHA74

#SupportHealthCareWorkers

"For almost 18 months, health and care workers all over the 🌍 have stood in the breach between life and death. They have saved countless lives, and fought for others who despite their best efforts, slipped away"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

"Many have themselves become infected, and while reporting is scant, we estimate that at least 115,000 health and care workers have paid the ultimate price in the service of others"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

"Health and care workers do heroic things, but they are not superheroes.

They are humans like the rest of us.

They sweat and swear.
They laugh and cry.
They fear and hope."-@DrTedros

#WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

"Many feel frustrated, helpless and unprotected, with a lack of access to personal protective equipment and vaccines, and the tools to save lives"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1239178513808273409?s=20

"We owe them so much, and yet globally health and care workers often lack the protection, the equipment, the training, the decent pay, the safe working conditions and the respect they deserve"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

"If we have any hope of achieving a healthier, safer, fairer future, every Member State must protect and invest in its health and care workforce as a matter of urgency"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

"This week you will consider two draft resolutions on the health workforce. I hope you will adopt them and, more importantly, take action on them, in every country"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #SupportHealthCareWorkers

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396763848200314886?s=20

"Just as health and care workers are the lifeblood of every health system, so the lifeblood of WHO is its staff – the incredible people all over the 🌍 I am honoured to call my colleagues, in country and regional offices, and here at headquarters"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #ProudToBeWHO

"For almost 18 months, they have worked under extreme pressure, and time and time again they have gone above and beyond to serve you, our Member States, despite the modest resources they have to do their jobs"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #ProudToBeWHO

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396764160520867841?s=20

"The success of this Organization depends on its people. And we are committed to doing much more to build a WHO that attracts the best, and gives them the best opportunities, in the best working environment"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #ProudToBeWHO

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396764160520867841?s=20

"As part of our commitment to strengthening the health and care workforce globally, as well as our own workforce, the #WHOAcademy will be a major addition to global health learning"-@DrTedros

"The #WHOAcademy’s digital learning platform has been built and will begin global testing next week. The first batch of learning programmes are in the final stages of production, translation and testing and will be rolled out by September"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"With thanks to #France for its support, we are moving forward with plans to build the #WHOAcademy campus in Lyon"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Since our #WHA74 started this morning, almost 1000 people have lost their lives to #COVID19. And in the time it takes me to make these remarks, a further 400 will die"-@DrTedros

"We are pleased that for 3 consecutive weeks we have seen a downturn in the number of #COVID19 cases & deaths being reported.

But globally, we remain in a fragile situation.

No country should assume it is out of the woods, no matter its vaccination rate"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"So far, no variants have emerged that significantly undermine the efficacy of #COVID19 vaccines, diagnostics or therapeutics.

But there is no guarantee that will remain the case.

This virus is changing constantly"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We must be very clear: the #COVID19 pandemic is not over, and it will not be over until and unless transmission is controlled in every last country"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Every country can do more:
-⬆️ surveillance, testing, sequencing, sharing ℹ️
-Surge supplies needed to protect 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️
-Fight misinformation
-Empower communities to play their part
-Support businesses to open up safely
-Vaccinate those most at risk & donate 💉 to #COVAX"-@DrTedros

"The ongoing vaccine crisis is a scandalous inequity that is perpetuating the #COVID19 pandemic.

More than 75% of all vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"There is no diplomatic way to say it: a small group of countries that make and buy the majority of the 🌍’s vaccines control the fate of the rest of the world"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"The number of [#COVID19 vaccine] doses administered globally so far would have been enough to cover all #healthworkers and older people, if they had been distributed equitably. We could have been in a much better situation"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"I understand that every government:
-has a duty to protect its own people
-wants to vaccinate its entire population.
That’s what we want too. And in time, there will be enough supply for everyone, including those at lower risk"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"But right now, there is not enough supply. Countries that vaccinate children and other low-risk groups now do so at the expense of #healthworkers and high-risk groups in other countries"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396767737146494984?s=20

"At the Executive Board meeting in January, I issued a challenge to see #COVID19 vaccination of #healthworkers and older people underway in all countries within the first 100 days of the year"-@DrTedros #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1351608374652186626?s=20

"That target was very nearly achieved.

But the number of doses available to #COVAX remains vastly inadequate"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396769695198494725?s=20

"#COVAX works. We have shipped every single one of the 72 million doses we have been able to get our hands on so far to 125 countries and economies.

But those doses are sufficient for barely 1% of the combined population of those countries"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"So today I am calling on Member States to support a massive push to vaccinate at least 10% of the population of every country by September, and a “drive to December” to achieve our goal of vaccinating at least 30% by the end of the year"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"This is crucial to stop severe and disease and death, keep our #healthworkers safe, reopen our societies and economies"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396770249488355331?s=20

"Sprinting to our September goal means we must vaccinate 250 million more people in low- and middle-income countries in just four months, including all #healthworkers and the most at-risk groups as the first priority"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"These are the minimum targets we should aim for, and we are in discussion with the @IMFNews Member States and our partners about how we can go be push even harder and reach even further"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"Here’s how the “Drive to December” must happen:
1⃣ share doses through #COVAX, now.
I welcome the commitments made by Member States to donate doses, incl. the important announcements made at the @g20org #GlobalHealthSummit on Friday"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1395755974712086530?s=20

"But to achieve the goals for September & the end of the year, we need hundreds of millions more doses, we need them to go through #COVAX, and we need them to start moving in early June"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396771705561960449?s=20

"I call on all manufacturers to give #COVAX first right of refusal on new volume of vaccines, or to commit 50% of their volumes to COVAX this year"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"We need every country that receives #COVID19 vaccines to use them as quickly as possible. No dose can lay idle, or worse, be thrown away. Country-level preparations to reach their populations must move as fast as vaccines"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"2⃣scale-up manufacturing
We need a lot more doses, we need them fast & we must leave no stone unturned to get them. Several manufacturers have said they have capacity to produce 💉 if the originator companies are willing to share licenses, technology & know-how"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"I find it difficult to understand why this has not happened yet.

I thank 🇮🇳 and 🇿🇦 for their initiative at the @wto to waive intellectual property protections for #COVID19 products, and I thank those countries that are supporting these efforts"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"And we urge Member States and manufacturers to join C-TAP, the WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, which provides a powerful mechanism for sharing licences in a non-exclusive, transparent way"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"I thank Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon for his commitment that 🇪🇸 will join C-TAP, and we expect more good news in the coming days"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #VaccinEquity

"3⃣ fully fund the @ACTAccelerator.

There remains an $18.5B gap in the ACT Accelerator. Ultimately, the #COVID19 pandemic has shown clearly that in an emergency, low and lower-middle income countries cannot rely on imports from vaccine-producing countries"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"I welcome the draft resolution on strengthening local production of medicines and other health technologies that Member States will consider at this #WHA74"-@DrTedros

"I would also like to express my deep appreciation to @POTUS and @VP, for reversing the decision to take the 🇺🇸 out of WHO, for donating $4B to #COVAX, for their announcement that they will donate 80M vaccines doses 🌍, & for supporting the intellectual property waiver"-@DrTedros

"In November, I gave Member States a detailed description of the incredible breadth and depth of WHO’s work beyond the #COVID19 pandemic. In the 6 months since then, there have been even more achievements to be proud of"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"As part of our commitment to transparency, the 2021 Results Report provides a wealth of information in an interactive, engaging, easy-to-use digital format. I commend it to you"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1394937016681476098?s=20

"As a complement to the Results Report, we held the triple billion showcases, updated the triple billion dashboard, and we continue to hold ourselves accountable through delivery stocktakes, to review progress and identify challenges"-@DrTedros #WHA74
portal.who.int/triplebillions/

"We have built the World #HealthData Hub to provide complete, transparent and open data, on an interactive and easily searchable platform"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396563811994415119?s=20

"And the annual World Health Statistics, published last week, presents the latest data on more than 50 health-related indicators for the “triple billion” targets and the @GlobalGoalsUN"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1395679150405468162?s=20

"One of the features of the #GPW13 and the WHO Transformation is to drive a paradigm shift in global health by increasing the emphasis on promoting health and preventing disease; focusing on healthy lifestyles"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"On current trends, we estimate that about 900 million more people could be enjoying better health & well-being by 2023, taking us very close to our target of 1 billion. But progress is uneven, & more than a third of countries are heading in the wrong direction"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We have made mixed progress in addressing the major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases:
-Tobacco use continues to decline
-the prevalence of obesity is rising, as is alcohol consumption in some regions"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We see progress in efforts to improve nutrition, and to support consumers to make healthier food choices.

On occupational health, we worked with the @ilo to developed guidance to protect workers from #COVID19"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We’re working with the @UNEP to support 40 countries to establish legally-binding controls on lead paint, a significant source of childhood poisoning.

Together with UN partners, in March of this year we published the first Global report on Ageism"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We released a technical package "Step Safely" to prevent & manage falls, an increasing cause of death & disability for people of all ages.
@UN Member States adopted a resolution committing to greater efforts to prevent drowning, in line with WHO recommendations"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"With @UN_Women, we launched a new report representing the largest study ever conducted on the prevalence of violence against women, showing that almost 1 in 3 women globally has suffered intimate partner violence, at least once in their lives"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"With our partners @FAO, @OIEAnimalHealth and @UNEP, we created the One Health High-Level Expert Panel. The panel will be instrumental in guiding development of a dynamic new research agenda and providing high-level policy leadership"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Despite these achievements, progress in addressing the root causes of death and disease remains vastly insufficient and inequitable. Globally, only 3% of health budgets are spent on promotion and prevention"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Increased investment in these areas could reduce the global disease burden by half, generating massive returns for individuals, families, communities & nations.

An investment of $1 per person per year could save 8.2 million lives and $350 billion by 2023"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"The #COVID19 pandemic has been a significant setback in our efforts to support Member States to progress towards universal health coverage"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"On current trends, we project that an additional 290M people will have access to high-quality health services, without 💰 hardship by 2023. That leaves a shortfall of 710 million against our target to see 1 billion more people benefiting from #HealthForAll"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"The 🌍 is far behind. With renewed determination and increased investment in #primaryhealthcare and public health, we estimate that a further 400 million people could be covered with essential services by 2025"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"But at least 1/2 the 🌍’s population still lacks access to these services.

According to our most recent estimates, about 930M people suffer catastrophic health spending each year, & about 90M are pushed into extreme poverty by out-of-pocket health spending"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Globally, there remain huge gaps in access to essential medicines, including antibiotics, insulin, anti-hypertensives, diagnostics and treatment for cancer, and routine immunizations"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"#AntimicrobialResistance remains an existential and largely unaddressed threat to a century of medical progress"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #StopDrugResistance

"#COVID19 has caused severe disruption to essential health services. Our most recent Pulse Survey, published one month ago, shows that during the first 3 months of 2021, 94% of the 135 countries & territories surveyed reported some kind of disruption to services"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Despite disruptions to services, there have been significant achievements.

Globally, the prevalence of hepatitis B virus in children under 5 years is now below 1%, meaning the @GlobalGoalsUN target has already been achieved"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"More than 9.4 million people 🌍 have received treatment for hepatitis C, a 9-fold increase since 2015;

This week we will publish interim guidance for validation of viral hepatitis elimination, with assessments to start in 🇧🇷, 🇪🇬, 🇬🇪, 🇲🇳 & 🇷🇼"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"Ten days ago, the Commonwealth of #Dominica received certification for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

https://twitter.com/pahowho/status/1393294450621829124?s=20

"On #malaria, although the 🌍 decline in infections & deaths has stalled, there are still causes for celebration. In February, #ElSalvador became the first country in Central America, & the 39th country/territory 🌍, to be certified as malaria-free"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"Over 670k children have now received the first dose of the RTS,S #malaria vaccine in 🇬🇭, 🇰🇪 & 🇲🇼 as part of a pilot programme coordinated by WHO, with financial support from @gavi, @UNITAID & the @GlobalFund. Preliminary results are very positive"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

On #tuberculosis, more than 20 million people received access to TB services over the past 2 years, almost 5 million more than the previous 2 years"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"On neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), we have a new roadmap that sets 🌍 targets and milestones to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate 20 NTDs and disease groups"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"On noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), WHO has supported 36 countries to integrate services to prevent, detect & treat NCDs into #primaryhealthcare programmes. More than 30 countries have developed policies or programmes to improve access to childhood cancer care"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We launched the Global #BreastCancer Initiative, aimed at reducing mortality from the world’s most-diagnosed cancer by 2.5% every year until 2040, saving 2.5 million lives"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"Over 3 million people in 18 countries are now on protocol-based management of #hypertension, with increasing use of the WHO HEARTS package of interventions. We've launched a new project to link quality of care for maternal & child health with NCDs"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

On #mentalhealth, we have supported 31 more countries to integrate mental health services into #primaryhealthcare, a 100% increase since 2014.

To improve mental health among adolescents, we worked with @UNICEF to launch the “Helping Adolescents Thrive” toolkit"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"To address opioid overdose deaths, we worked with @UNODC to conduct a study of naloxone in four low- and middle-income countries, demonstrating significant public health benefits"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"WHO has given Emergency Use Listing to 7 vaccines & 28 in vitro diagnostics for #COVID19, which has allowed 101 countries to issue their own regulatory authorizations.
In total, WHO prequalified 62 medicines, 15 diagnostics, 13 vaccines & more last year"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We published the updated Model List of in Vitro Diagnostics, including new tests for noncommunicable and infectious diseases"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"We published new pricing policy guidelines, to increase the affordability of medicines, & we supported Small Island Developing States to sign a pooled procurement agreement for health products, to improve the prices at which they can buy medical products"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"WHO is also supporting the @_AfricanUnion to establish the Africa Medicines Agency, to increase regulatory oversight and access to safe, efficacious and affordable medical products across the continent"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"On #antimicrobialresistance, just last month WHO published the latest overview of the pipeline for antibacterials, to monitor progress in research and development of these life-saving treatments"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"The number of countries reporting data to the Global #AntimicrobialResistance and Use Surveillance System has tripled to 70 in three years, and the number of surveillance sites globally has increased from 729 to 73,000"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

"And we established the One Health Global Leaders Group on #AntimicrobialResistance, led by Prime Minister Hasina of Bangladesh and Prime Minister @miaamormottley of Barbados"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #HealthForAll

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1329794694042279937?s=20

"We estimate that by 2023, about 920 million people could be better protected from health emergencies – again taking us very close to reaching our target of 1 billion. Of course, that doesn’t mean 920 million people protected from all health emergencies"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"The past year has exposed gaps in national and global preparedness that must be addressed.

Even while WHO has focused on responding to the #COVID19 pandemic, we continue to work with countries to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"More broadly, we continue to assess preparedness and response capacities of Member States, with 113 joint external evaluations, 156 simulation exercises and 126 intra action or after-action reviews"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"More than 70 countries have developed national action plans for health security to address critical gaps – but many remain unfunded"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"#COVID19 is far from the only emergency to which WHO has responded in the past year.

Every month, WHO processes over 9 million pieces of information, screens 43,000 signals, leading to 4,500 events reviewed and an average of 30 events verified"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Our surveillance systems go far beyond disease outbreak events in human populations, to encompass information with potential risk implications at the human–animal interface, signals related to climate change, industrial hazards, and conflicts"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"In 2020 alone we responded to 120+ emergencies including a total of 60 graded crises.

Over 1.8B people currently live in fragile, conflict & vulnerable settings, where protracted crises are compounded by weak national capacity to deliver basic health services"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Health and care workers are particularly vulnerable where there is instability. More than 2400 incidents in 17 countries and territories have been recorded by the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care, since it started in December 2017"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #NotATarget

"Over 600 health care workers and patients have died, and nearly 2000 have been injured.

There is no peace without heath and no health without peace"-@DrTedros #WHA74 #NotATarget

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396786426637955073?s=20

"The Science division quality-assure more than 290 global public health goods this biennium, and together with the Health Emergencies programme, coordinated the review of almost 1,300 #COVID19 publications"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Among WHO’s most-downloaded products in the past year were new guidelines on:
-increasing physical activity
-rapid advice on the use of chest imaging in #COVID19
-technical specifications for blood pressure measurement
-managing chronic pain in children
..."-@DrTedros #WHA74

"...
-pharmaceutical pricing policies
-traditional and complementary medicines
-screening and treatment for prevention of cervical cancer"-@DrTedros #WHA74

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1396787144073613315?s=20

"The #COVID19 pandemic has been driven by a highly transmissible virus. But it has been turbo-charged by division, inequity, and the historical neglect of investments in preparedness"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"So as we recover and rebuild, we must do more than stop viruses; we must address the vulnerabilities that allow outbreaks to become epidemics and epidemics to become pandemics"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Whatever changes we make must be to something more fundamental. We can only lay a solid foundation for a safer 🌍 with a common commitment to solidarity, equity and sustainability"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"A year ago, you tasked me with initiating an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation, including existing mechanisms, as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to #COVID19"-@DrTedros #WHA74

At this #WHA74, you'll receive the reports of several panels & committees that evaluated different dimensions of the international response to the #COVID19 pandemic, incl. WHO’s role. I would like to thank each panel, committee & working group for its efforts"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"There is always more to do, there are more lessons to learn and more changes to make. We are committed to listening to you, our Member States, with humility and a willingness to make the changes we need to make to be the organization you need us to be"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We cannot build a safer 🌍 from the top down; we must build from the ground up. Preparing for, preventing, detecting and responding rapidly to epidemics doesn’t start in Geneva, New York, or any of the world’s corridors of power"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"It starts in the streets of deprivation and overcrowding;

In the homes where there is not enough food;

In the communities without access to health workers;

And in the villages and towns whose clinics and hospitals lack electricity or clean water"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"It starts with strong #primaryhealthcare and public health systems, skilled health workers, and communities empowered and enabled to take charge of their own health.

That must be the focus of our attention, and our investment"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We need better systems, built locally and linked globally in an unbreakable chain, for readiness, early warning, rapid response, risk communications and more"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We need better financing to strengthen national capacities, support rapid response, and fund the research and development, manufacturing and deployment of life-saving tools"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We need better governance that is inclusive and truly representative of every Member State, regardless of the size of its population or economy. Keeping the world safe requires the ownership and engagement of all Member States"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"The International Health Regulations remain the cornerstone of global governance for pandemic preparedness and response. But their implementation is inconsistent, and has not led to the level of commitment and action needed"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We all know that one of the greatest drivers of the #COVID19 pandemic has been the lack of international solidarity and sharing: sharing data, sharing information, sharing pathogens, sharing resources, sharing technology"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We can only address that fundamental weakness with a binding commitment between nations to provide a solid foundation for enhanced cooperation – a treaty on pandemic preparedness and response that can address the challenges I have outlined"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"An international agreement that represents all nations and people;

That addresses our shared risks and vulnerabilities;

That leverages our shared humanity, solidarity and diversity;

That reflects what future generations need, not what this generation wants"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We have come to a fork in the road. If we go on the same old way, we will get the same old result: a 🌍 that is unprepared, unsafe and unfair"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"Make no mistake: this will not be the last time the world faces the threat of a pandemic. It is an evolutionary certainty that there will be another virus with the potential to be more transmissible and more deadly than this one"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"We have a choice: between cooperation, competition or confrontation. In fact, the only choice we have is between cooperation and insecurity.

A safer world is not a zero-sum game; it is the opposite"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"If anyone is left behind, all are held back.

But if the furthest behind is the first to be helped; if the weakest is first to be strengthened; if the most vulnerable is first to be protected – then we all win"-@DrTedros #WHA74

"73 years ago, you our Member States established WHO as the directing & coordinating authority on intl health. With your continued leadership & guidance, that's the role we will continue to play together to promote health, keep the 🌍 safe & serve the vulnerable"-@DrTedros #WHA74

The full @DrTedros' opening remarks at the #WHA74 - 24 May 2021 👉 bit.ly/3vfBhLG