Thread by @WHO

LIVE: Media briefing on global health issues with @DrTedros twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

@DrTedros "Yesterday I returned from my visit to #Türkiye and #Syria. I was deeply shocked and saddened by the devastation and suffering I saw and heard. In the Hatay province, 🇹🇷, almost every building has either collapsed, or is leaning dangerously"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1630515002422571011?s=20

@DrTedros "I imagined how terrifying that morning must have been, in the pitch black, the rain and snow, and the awful noise of buildings collapsing and people screaming"-@DrTedros #Türkiye

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631665986041462786?s=20

@DrTedros "I visited a camp for displaced people where I met a 67-year-old woman who was trapped under the rubble for 3h before she was rescued. Her husband was not as fortunate. Her daughter is in hospital and may have to have a leg amputated"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1630572404278808577?s=20

@DrTedros "The suffering is impossible to describe in words or even in pictures. Nothing can convey the depth of grief and loss so many people are feeling"-@DrTedros #Türkiye

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1630666406168502302?s=20

@DrTedros "The destruction is immense; but so is the response of the Turkish government. During the first 2 weeks, more than 55,000 people needing care were transported to hospitals all over #Türkiye in any way possible – by helicopter, ambulance, and car"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1630662881543856147?s=20

@DrTedros "Since the 1st day, the Minister of Health has been leading the response on the ground in the most affected areas. The entire @saglikbakanligi has relocated to the affected zones & is living in tents, containers & 🚙, side-by-side with health workers & other responders"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi "I was impressed by the dedication & hard work of 👩‍⚕️ in #Türkiye & #Syria. The kind of suffering caused by the earthquake on both sides is similar. But the risks now being faced by people on the Syrian side are far higher than those living a few km away on the 🇹🇷 side"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi "The challenges health workers are facing are similar on both sides, but on the Syrian side they are facing them with far fewer resources"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631667612768665601?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi "Twelve years of war has destroyed infrastructure, homes and hope. Drought, economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing cholera outbreak have heaped misery upon misery"-@DrTedros #Syria

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1631319165599375360?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi "Even before the earthquake, over 90% of Syrians were living in poverty. The NGOs in north-west #Syria welcomed my visit, but expressed their disappointment that I was the first high-level @UN official to visit since the beginning of the war"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631264356238344193?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "In Idlib Governate, I met a 15-year-old boy who broke both his arms when he jumped out of a window during the earthquake. He hasn’t been to school since he was 9 nine years old because of the conflict"-@DrTedros #Syria

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1631308031337136128?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "I visited a reception centre where hundreds of people are living with nothing but the clothes they are wearing when they escaped their homes.

People showed me pictures of the children they had lost"-@DrTedros #Syria

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1630966862262550530?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "The children who were there were dirty and hadn’t eaten that day. There is nothing for them to do. No toys, no games, no schooling"-@DrTedros #Syria

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631017074259554305?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "For the past decade, WHO has been providing about 1/3 of medicines in opposition-controlled areas in north-west #Syria. That has now risen to 2/3. On the day of the earthquake, we were able to release supplies quickly from our local warehouses"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1630972004240113670?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "So far we have distributed more than 200 tonnes of aid to health facilities in north-west #Syria, and we continue to deliver as much aid as we can in any way we can, whether across borders or across lines of conflict"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631669191127228418?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Syrians have suffered more than most people ever will or ever could. They've endured & they have shown great resilience in the face of it. Their needs, dreams & hopes are the same as all people for:
-health, food, water, shelter & peace
-a better future for their 👶 "-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "I call on the international community to dig deep to lift up those in #Türkiye and #Syria, in two ways:
-for humanitarian support for both countries
-to support a political solution to establish a lasting peace in the Syrian Arab Republic"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "I call on the leaders of all sides of the Syrian conflict to use the shared suffering of this crisis as a platform for peace. 12 years of war has delivered nothing but division & the destruction of #Syria’s proud history and rich culture"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "If anything good could come of this suffering, it must be peace"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631670508218400770?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Over the past few days there has been renewed attention on the origins of the #COVID19 pandemic. As we have said before, if any country has information about the origins of the pandemic, it is essential for that information to be shared with WHO..."-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "...and the international scientific community – not so as to apportion blame, but to advance our understanding of how this pandemic started, so we can prevent, prepare for and respond to future epidemics and pandemics"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631671336165683202?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "I wish to be very clear that WHO’s work to identify the origins of the #COVID19 pandemic continues, contrary to recent media reports and comments by politicians"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "In 2021, WHO established the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens. In its report last year, SAGO identified key studies that must be done in 🇨🇳 & elsewhere to verify or eliminate the various hypotheses for the origins of the #COVID19 pandemic"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "WHO continues to call for 🇨🇳 to be transparent in sharing data, and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results. To that effect, I have written to, and spoken with, high-level Chinese leaders on multiple occasions, as recently as just a few weeks ago"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Until then, all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631672102729203712?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "At the same time, the continued politicisation of the origins research has turned what should be a purely scientific process into a geopolitical football, which only makes the task of identifying the origins more difficult. And that makes the world less safe"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Understanding the origins of #COVID19 remains a scientific imperative, to inform measures to prevent future epidemics and pandemics, and a moral imperative, for the sake of the millions of people and their families who have lost their lives to COVID-19"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Today, WHO is launching a new policy on preventing and addressing all forms of sexual misconduct, including sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Following allegations of sexual misconduct by WHO employees during the 10th #Ebola outbreak in #DRC in 2020, I appointed an Independent Commission to investigate the allegations, and to make recommendations on reforming WHO’s policies, procedures and practices"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Since the Commission delivered its report in 2021, WHO has worked hard at implementing its recommendations. This new policy builds on our achievements so far, and addresses gaps identified by reviews of the previous policy"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "It puts victims and survivors at the centre of our approach, and applies to all WHO staff, collaborators and members of the public in places where WHO and our partners work"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "The new policy is an important step on our journey to becoming an organization where “zero tolerance” is the reality, and not just a slogan"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "Next Wednesday marks #InternationalWomansDay. Over the past 20 years, the 🌍 has made significant gains in the health of women & girls. Maternal mortality has decreased by 1/3. Yet 800 women still die each day due to preventable complications of pregnancy & childbirth"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "These risks are increased by teen pregnancy, which affects more than 20 million girls every year"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1631677733699829762?s=20

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "While women make up 70% of the health workforce globally, on average they earn one-quarter less than their male colleagues, and occupy only one in four global health leadership roles"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @saglikbakanligi @UN "WHO is committed to addressing the root causes of disparities in women’s and girl’s health, and to making the health sector a driving force for a healthier, safer, fairer world for all women and girls"-@DrTedros