Following the 1 April announcement, we are pleased to inform you that the first round of public hearings regarding a new international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response will occur on 12 and 13 April 2022.
These public hearings will be comprised of a spoken component (through videoconferencing software) and a written component (through a dedicated web portal).
Members of the public are encouraged to participate in this historic development, and may do so by consulting the dedicated WHO webpage for the public hearings, which provides the web portal for submitting written comments and the means to register interest in participating in the spoken component of the hearings.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
6 April 2022, Geneva – On this World Health Day (April 7, 2022), WHO is issuing an urgent call for accelerated action by leaders and all people to preserve and protect health and mitigate the climate crisis as part of an “Our planet, our health” campaign marking the organization’s founding day, which falls at a time of heightened conflict and fragility.
In issuing its call-to-action, WHO notes that 99 per cent of people breathe unhealthy air mainly resulting from burning of fossil fuels. A heating world is seeing mosquitos spread diseases further and faster than ever before. Extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, land degradation and water scarcity are displacing people and affecting their health. Pollution and plastics are found at the bottom of our deepest oceans, the highest mountains, and have made their way into our food chain and blood stream. Systems that produce highly processed, unhealthy foods and beverages are driving a wave of obesity, increasing cancer and heart disease while generating up to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. This health and social crisis is compromising people’s ability to take control over their health and lives.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis: the same unsustainable choices that are killing our planet are killing people,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We need transformative solutions to wean the world off its addiction to fossil fuels, to reimagine economies and societies focused on well-being, and to safeguard the health of the planet on which human health depends.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fault lines of inequity across the world, underlining the urgency for creating sustainable, well-being societies which do not breach ecological limits and which ensure that all people have access to life-saving and life-enhancing tools, systems, policies and environments.
WHO’s Manifesto to ensure a healthy and green recovery from COVID-19 prescribes protecting and preserving nature as the source of human health; investing in essential services from water & sanitation to clean energy in healthcare facilities; ensuring a quick and healthy energy transition; promoting healthy and sustainable food systems; building healthy and livable cities; and stopping the use of taxpayers’ money to fund pollution.
The Geneva Charter for well-being highlights what global commitments are needed to achieve equitable health and social outcomes now and for future generations, without destroying the health of our planet.
Through its World Health Day campaign, WHO is calling on governments, organizations, corporations, and citizens to share actions they are taking to protect the planet and human health.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
Today, WHO announced that Egypt’s and Nigeria’s medical products regulatory agencies had reached maturity level 3. This means that these national bodies have been found to function well and that they could be eligible for inclusion into the transitional WHO Listed Authorities, a list that will comprise the world’s regulators of reference – that is, regulatory authorities that should be globally recognized as meeting WHO and other international standards.
Egypt has reached maturity level 3 for vaccines regulation (locally produced and imported) and Nigeria for medicines and imported vaccines. The two countries join Ghana and Tanzania as effective regulatory systems on the African continent. Several other African regulators are currently under assessment.
WHO’s assessment of regulatory authorities is based on the ‘Global Benchmarking Tool’ – an evaluation tool that checks regulatory functions against a set of more than 260 indicators – covering core regulatory functions such as product authorization, testing of products, market surveillance and the ability to detect adverse events – to establish their level of maturity and functionality. Regulatory authorities that reach maturity levels 3 and 4 will be eligible for inclusion among WHO-listed authorities, after additional evaluation of their performance.
The benchmarking of Egypt and Nigeria’s regulators was carried out by a WHO-led team of international experts. In February and March 2022, WHO conducted a formal evaluation of the authorities and found them to perform well against most of the indicators in the Global Benchmarking Tool.
Egypt and Nigeria were also chosen in February 2022 as recipients of mRNA technology from the WHO mRNA Technology Transfer Hub. Effective and efficient regulatory oversight is critical to efforts to boost manufacturing capacity as they ensure that medical products entering the market are safe, effective and produced according to international quality standards.
“Egypt and Nigeria have come a long way to improve their regulatory work and performance,” said Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Health Products. “Given that medical products regulatory oversight and manufacturing must work in tandem, this is very good news for access to quality health products on the African continent.”
Regulation of medical products is extremely important for all health systems and for access to quality vaccines, medicines and other health products. Apart from ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of medical products, regulatory authorities that function well also perform critical functions such as faster authorization of products and safety monitoring after authorization.
Fewer than 30% of the world’s regulatory authorities are considered fully functioning and operational. For that reason, WHO has intensified efforts to bolster the capacity to regulate medical products in all regions.
WHO today also announced a transitional WHO-Listed Authorities (WLAs) list. The introduction of a framework for designating and publicly listing a regulatory authority as a WLA aims to provide a transparent and evidence-based pathway for regulatory authorities to be globally recognized as meeting and applying WHO and other internationally recognized standards and guidelines, as well as good regulatory practices.
The designation of a regulatory authority as a WLA is intended to promote access and the supply of safe, effective and quality medical products. It also encourages the optimal use of limited resources by facilitating reliance on the work and decisions of mature and advanced agencies in the decision-making of other regulatory authorities, the WHO Prequalification Programme, and procurement bodies.
The transitional WLA combines pre-existing lists of Stringent Regulatory Authorities for medicines, highly performing regulatory authorities for vaccines, Regional Reference Authorities for medicines and vaccines in the Americas (AMRO/PAHO), national regulatory authorities operating at maturity levels 3 and 4, and vaccine producing countries with functional regulatory authorities. The WHO Listed Authorities framework will come into full effect pending successful pilots later this year.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
WHO is releasing a strategy to strengthen and scale up genomic surveillance around the world.
Historically, few countries have routinely done genomic surveillance in-country, a technology considered complicated and expensive. But COVID-19 changed that.
Genomic surveillance is the process of constantly monitoring pathogens and analyzing their genetic similarities and differences. It helps researchers, epidemiologists and public health officials to monitor the evolution of infectious diseases agents, alert on the spread of pathogens, and develop counter measures like vaccines.
The Global genomic surveillance strategy for pathogens with pandemic and epidemic potential 2022–2032 is not specific to a single pathogen or disease threat. It provides a high-level unifying framework to leverage existing capacities, address barriers and strengthen the use of genomic surveillance worldwide.
Data collected by WHO show that in March 2021, 54% of countries had this capacity. By January 2022, thanks to the major investments made during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number had increased to 68%. Even greater gains were made in the public sharing of sequence data: in January 2022, 43% more countries published their sequence data compared to a year before.
Despite this fast progress, much remains to be done. Any new technology comes with the risk of increasing inequity, which is one of the gaps this strategy targets.
Various public health programmes – from Ebola to cholera – use genomic surveillance to understand a pathogen at its molecular level, but COVID-19 has highlighted the challenges of bringing genomics to scale.
“The complexities of genomics and the challenges of sustaining capacities in different settings, including workforce needs, means that most countries cannot develop these capabilities on their own. The global strategy helps keep our eyes on the horizon and provides a unifying framework for action. WHO looks forward to working with countries and partners in this important and highly dynamic field,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We will do best if we work together.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that health systems need genomic surveillance so that risks are rapidly detected and addressed. This technology has been critical in this response, from the identification of a novel coronavirus, to the development of the first diagnostic tests and vaccines, to the tracking and identification of new virus variants.
“Genomic surveillance is critical for stronger pandemic and epidemic preparedness and response,” said Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “This pandemic has laid bare the fact that we live in an interconnected world and that we are only as strong as our weakest link. Improving global disease surveillance means improving local disease surveillance. That is where we need to act, and this strategy will provide us with the foundation.”
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched its first ever global guidelines to support women and newborns in the postnatal period – the first six weeks after birth. This is a critical time for ensuring newborn and maternal survival and for supporting healthy development of the baby as well as the mother’s overall mental and physical recovery and wellbeing.
Worldwide, more than 3 in 10 women and babies do not currently receive postnatal care in the first days after birth - the period when most maternal and infant deaths occur. Meanwhile the physical and emotional consequences of childbirth – from injuries to recurring pain and trauma - can be debilitating if unmanaged, but are often highly treatable when the right care is given at the right time.
“The need for quality maternity and newborn care does not stop once a baby is born,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at WHO. “Indeed, the birth of a baby is a life-changing moment, one that is bound by love, hope and excitement, but it can also cause unprecedented stress and anxiety. Parents need strong health care and support systems, especially women, whose needs are too often neglected when the baby comes.”
In addition to addressing immediate health concerns, these first weeks after birth are crucial for building relationships and establishing behaviours that affect long-term infant development and health. The guidelines include recommendations for breastfeeding counselling - to aid attachment and positioning as breastfeeding is established - and to support parents in providing responsive care for their newborns.
These include:
High quality care in health facilities for all women and babies for at least 24 hours after birth, with a minimum of three additional postnatal checkups in the first six weeks. These additional contacts should include home visits if feasible, so that the health worker can support the transition to care in the home. In the case of a home birth, the first postnatal contact should occur as early as possible, and no later than 24 hours after birth;
Steps to identify and respond to danger signs needing urgent medical attention in either the woman or the baby;
Treatment, support and advice to aid recovery and manage common problems that women can experience after childbirth, such as perineal pain and breast engorgement ;
Screening of all newborns for eye abnormalities and hearing impairment, as well as vaccination at birth;
Support to help families interact and respond to babies’ signals, providing them with close contact, warmth and comfort;
Exclusive breastfeeding counselling, access to postnatal contraception and health promotion, including for physical activity;
Encouragement of partner involvement, by being part of checkups, for instance, as well as providing support to the woman and attending to the newborn;
Screening for postnatal maternal depression and anxiety, with referral and management services where needed.
The recommendations detail the minimum length of hospital stay after birth and provide guidance on discharge criteria, but note that the time needed will depend on individual women and babies, social context, birth experience, and any health concerns. Additional postnatal contacts are recommended for healthy women and newborns between 48 and 72 hours, between seven and 14 days, and during week six after birth. If health risks are identified, more contacts will likely be required, with treatment needed potentially well beyond the first six weeks.
Evidence shows that women and their families want and need a positive ostnatal experience that helps them navigate the immense physical and emotional challenges that occur after their babies are born, while building their confidence as parents,” said Dr Mercedes Bonet, Medical Officer with WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and the UN Special Programme, HRP. “Dedicated postnatal services should provide vital physical and mental health support, while helping caregivers thrive in providing the right care for their newborns.”
These recommendations complete a trilogy of guidelines from WHO for quality maternity care through pregnancy and during and after childbirth, centred on meeting the needs of all those who give birth and their babies. These uphold the rights to a positive healthcare experience, where people are treated with dignity and respect and can participate actively in healthcare decisions.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
Maximizing potential of traditional medicines through modern science and technology
Geneva--25 March 2022--The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of India today signed an agreement to establish the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. This global knowledge centre for traditional medicine, supported by an investment of USD 250 million from the Government of India, aims to harness the potential of traditional medicine from across the world through modern science and technology to improve the health of people and the planet.
Around 80% of the world’s population is estimated to use traditional medicine. To date, 170 of the 194 WHO Member States have reported the use of traditional medicine, and their governments have asked for WHO’s support in creating a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and products.
“For many millions of people around the world, traditional medicine is the first port of call to treat many diseases,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Ensuring all people have access to safe and effective treatment is an essential part of WHO’s mission, and this new center will help to harness the power of science to strengthen the evidence base for traditional medicine. I’m grateful to the Government of India for its support, and we look forward to making it a success.”
The term traditional medicine describes the total sum of the knowledge, skills and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness. Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.
But today, national health systems and strategies do not yet fully integrate the millions of traditional medicine workers, accredited courses, health facilities, and health expenditures.
“It is heartening to learn about the signing of the Host Country Agreement for the establishment of Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM). The agreement between Ministry of Ayush and World Health Organization (WHO) to establish the WHO-GCTM at Jamnagar, Gujarat, is a commendable initiative,” said HE (Mr) Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
“Through various initiatives, our government has been tireless in its endeavour to make preventive and curative healthcare, affordable and accessible to all. May the global centre at Jamnagar help in providing the best healthcare solutions to the world.”
Traditional medicine is also increasingly prominent in the world of modern science.
Some 40% of approved pharmaceutical products in use today derive from natural substances, highlighting the vital importance of conserving biodiversity and sustainability. For example, the discovery of aspirin drew on traditional medicine formulations using the bark of the willow tree, the contraceptive pill was developed from the roots of wild yam plants and child cancer treatments have been based on the rosy periwinkle. Nobel-prize winning research on artemisinin for malaria control started with a review of ancient Chinese medicine texts.
There has been a rapid modernization of the ways traditional medicine is being studied. Artificial intelligence is now used to map evidence and trends in traditional medicine and to screen natural products for pharmacokinetic properties. Functional magnetic resonance imaging is used to study brain activity and the relaxation response that is part of some traditional medicine therapies such as meditation and yoga, which are increasingly drawn on for mental health and wellbeing in stressful times.
In addition, traditional medicine use has also been updated by mobile phone apps, online classes, and other technologies.
The new WHO centre will be established in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. While Jamnagar will serve as the hub, the new centre is being designed to engage and benefit all regions of the world.
It will concentrate on building a solid evidence base for policies and standards on traditional medicine practices and products and help countries integrate it as appropriate into their health systems and regulate its quality and safety for optimal and sustainable impact.
The new centre focuses on four main strategic areas: evidence and learning; data and analytics; sustainability and equity; and innovation and technology to optimize the contribution of traditional medicine to global health and sustainable development.
The onsite launch of the new WHO global centre for traditional medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India will take place on April 21, 2022.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the recommendations for the viral composition of influenza vaccines for the 2022-2023 influenza season in the northern hemisphere. The announcement was made at an information session at the end of a 4-day Information Meeting on the Composition of Influenza Virus Vaccines, a meeting that is held twice annually.
The WHO organizes these consultations with an advisory group of experts gathered from WHO Collaboration Centres and WHO Essential Regulatory Laboratories to analyse influenza virus surveillance data generated by the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System. The recommendations issued are used by the national vaccine regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical companies to develop, produce, and license influenza vaccines for the following influenza season.
The periodic update of viruses contained in influenza vaccines is necessary for the vaccines to be effective due to the constant evolving nature of influenza viruses, including those circulating and infecting humans.
The WHO recommends that quadrivalent vaccines for use in the 2022-2023 influenza season in the northern hemisphere contain the following:
Egg-based vaccines
an A/Victoria/2570/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/9/2021 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus; and
a B/Phuket/3073/2013 (B/Yamagata lineage)-like virus.
Cell culture- or recombinant-based vaccines
an A/Wisconsin/588/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus; and
a B/Phuket/3073/2013 (B/Yamagata lineage)-like virus.
The WHO recommends that trivalent vaccines for use in the 2022-2023 influenza season in the northern hemisphere contain the following:
Egg-based vaccines
an A/Victoria/2570/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/9/2021 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.
Cell culture- or recombinant-based vaccines
an A/Wisconsin/588/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Darwin/6/2021 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
Brazzaville/Lilongwe, 18 March 2022 – Malawi will on Sunday launch the first round of vaccination campaigns against wild poliovirus type 1. More than 80 million doses will be administered to more than 23 million children under 5 years in the four-round vaccination drive in five southern African countries after Malawi declared an outbreak on 17 February—the first such case in the country in 30 years, and the first in Africa since the region was certified free of indigenous wild poliovirus in 2020.
The first phase of the campaigns targets 9.4 million children in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Three subsequent rounds—in which Zimbabwe will also take part—are set for April, June and July and aim to reach over 23 million children with more than 80 million doses of the bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) for wild poliovirus (type 1).
Mass vaccinations, or supplementary vaccinations, aim to interrupt the circulation of poliovirus by immunizing every child under 5 years with oral polio vaccine regardless of previous immunization status. The objective is to reach children who are either not immunized, or only partially protected, and to boost immunity in those who have been immunized. Supplementary immunization is intended to complement—not replace—routine immunization.
“Polio is a highly infectious and an untreatable disease that can result in permanent paralysis. In support of Malawi and it neighbours, we are acting fast to halt this outbreak and extinguish the threat through effective vaccinations,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The African region has already defeated wild poliovirus due to a monumental effort by countries. We have the know-how and are tirelessly working to ensure that every child lives and thrives in a continent free of polio.”
The African region was declared and certified as free of indigenous wild polio in August 2020 after eliminating all forms of wild poliovirus. The region’s certification as wild polio-free remains unchanged. Laboratory analysis linked the strain detected in Malawi to the one circulating in Pakistan’s Sindh Province in 2019.
WHO has been supporting the country to reinforce response measures including disease surveillance, risk assessment and preparations for the vaccination campaigns. A surge team from WHO is working with country-based counterparts, partner organizations and the government to end the outbreak. The WHO team is part of a broader multi-partner Global Polio Eradication Initiative support to the country.
The country has also now set up environmental surveillance for polioviruses in 11 sites across four cities. The sites are in Lilongwe District that encompasses the capital Lilongwe where the initial, and so far, only case, was detected. Other sites are in Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba cities. Teams are collecting samples from the environment and sending them for analysis to laboratories while active surveillance is also underway in health facilities and in communities.
In preparation for the vaccination drives, trained surge teams of national officers have been deployed at district level to facilitate the campaign and ensure that all eligible children are vaccinated. Maintenance and repair of cold chain facilities are also ongoing.
Polio is a viral disease with no cure. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours, particularly among children under 5 years. The virus is transmitted from person to person mainly through contamination by faecal matter or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food, and multiplies in the intestine. While there is no cure for polio, the disease can be prevented through administration of a safe, simple and effective vaccine.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
Strengthened partnership aims to accelerate coordinated strategy on human, animal and ecosystem health
March 18, Rome/Paris/Geneva/Nairobi - Work to tackle the challenges of human, animal and ecosystem health using a more integrated approach has seen significant progress in the past year, leaders of three international organizations cooperating across these sectors said, as they expanded their group to include a fourth body, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
At its annual executive meeting this week, the Tripartite partnership for One Health, bringing together the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), formally became the Quadripartite as it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNEP.
The One Health approach aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, ecosystems and the wider environment. It mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems. And it addresses the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development.
“We are stronger with UNEP joining the Tripartite, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said, adding: “UNEP is already active in relevant areas of Tripartite work.” The Memorandum of Understanding notes that UNEP “sets the environmental agenda and promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the UN system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.”
The work of the newly expanded alliance will be focused on a One Health Joint Plan of Action, which includes six main action tracks: enhancing countries’ capacity to strengthen health systems under a One Health approach; reducing the risks from emerging or resurfacing zoonotic epidemics and pandemics; controlling and eliminating endemic zoonotic, neglected tropical or vector-borne diseases; strengthening the assessment, management and communication of food safety risks; curbing the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and better integrating the environment into the One Health approach.
As FAO handed over the rotating chair of the secretariat to WHO, Director-General Qu noted the past year’s substantial progress in efforts to collectively develop the action plan and added: "Now the challenge is implementation: how do we translate our work on the ground to support our Members? And how do we mobilize funding and financing mechanisms to support the Joint Plan for Action?”
In his opening remarks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “We need to build a more comprehensive and coordinated One Health governance structure at global level. We need a strong workforce, committed political will, and sustained financial investment. We need to develop a more proactive way of communicating and engaging across sectors, disciplines and communities to elicit the change we need.”
Monique Eloit, OIE Director General acknowledged the key milestone of the MoU with UNEP, saying: “Today, I am particularly pleased that our Tripartite collaboration is expanded to include UNEP as an equal partner. Its mandate, expertise and networks will provide an important contribution to advance One Health. This new chapter in our partnership will make us stronger and more prepared to serve our members and address global health challenges”.
UNEP’s Executive Director Inger Andersen said: “What is apparent to everyone involved in One Health is that no one sector can solve the many problems we face alone. To secure human, animal and environment health – to secure the very future of this planet – we need more collaboration and partnerships. We need to stand together and work together if we are to thrive together. UNEP, as the newest full member of the Alliance, is ready to do its part as an equal partner.”
As the world enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an estimated cost of $8 to 16 trillion, there is increased awareness and broad recognition of the importance of One Health as a long-term, viable and sustainable approach. And it is also now firmly anchored on the global agenda, from the G7 and G20 to the UN Food Systems Summit. To support a global One Health Coalition, a One Health Commitment was registered at the UN Food Systems Summit, aimed at building engagement across sectors, disciplines, and all levels of society. This commitment will help shape national agrifood systems transformation pathways as part of the Summit follow-up.
Last year saw the Tripartite also implement a number of other initiatives on One Health including on Anti-Microbial Resistance. The One Health High-Level Expert Panel had an important scientific advisory role. One Health Regional Platforms were strengthened and new ones initiated to share information and best practices. Important progress was also made in establishing a Joint Framework on AMR, a Global Leaders’ Group on AMR, and in work towards an AMR Multi-stakeholder Partnership Platform, mobilizing resources and action to fight antimicrobial resistance that threatens the lives of millions. These achievements reflect the successful cooperation between the Tripartite and UNEP which has now reached an important new milestone with the signature of a formal collaboration agreement.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
Mr President, Excellencies, dear colleagues,
Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
The war in Ukraine is having devastating consequences for the health of Ukraine’s people; consequences that will reverberate for years or decades to come.
There is severe disruption to health services and access to basic commodities, as a result of widespread destruction of infrastructure, including health facilities.
WHO has verified 43 attacks on health care, with 12 people killed and 34 injured, including health workers.
In any conflict, attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law.
They deprive people of urgently-needed care and break already-strained health systems.
The disruption to services and supplies in Ukraine is posing an extreme risk to people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine.
Displacement, poor shelter, and overcrowded living conditions caused by the conflict are likely to increase the risk of diseases such as measles, pneumonia and polio.
Services for mental health and psychosocial support are urgently needed to help people cope with the effects of the war.
There are more than 35,000 mental health patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities, which are facing severe shortages of medicines, food, heating, blankets and more.
The war is also exacerbating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine.
With just one-third of the adult population fully vaccinated, this increases the risk of large numbers of people developing severe disease.
Critical shortages of oxygen will have an impact on the ability to treat patients with COVID-19 and many other conditions.
At least 8 facilities for producing and storing liquid oxygen have now closed, and we are seeking ways of accessing oxygen from neighboring countries and ways to deliver it safely to where it’s needed.
WHO is on the ground, working with the Ministry of Health and partners to support health workers and the health system to provide care to meet immediate health needs.
So far, we have sent about 100 metric tonnes of medical supplies, including oxygen, insulin, surgical supplies, anaesthetics, and blood transfusion kits – enough for 4,500 trauma patients and 450,000 primary health care patients, for one month.
Other equipment, including oxygen generators, electrical generators and defibrillators have also been delivered, and we are preparing to send a further 108 metric tonnes.
We have now established supply lines from our warehouse in Lviv to many cities of Ukraine, but challenges with access remain. We need unfettered access.
We have critical supplies ready for UN joint convoys to enter difficult areas, but so far we have not been successful.
Today, for example, the UN convoy to Sumy that included a WHO truck carrying critical medical supplies was unable to enter.
Loads ready for Mariupol remain in staging areas and cannot proceed. Access to these, and other areas, is now critical.
To support Ukraine’s health system, WHO is coordinating the deployment of 20 Emergency Medical Teams, consisting of experts from many countries, to deliver care across a range of disciplines, in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, which have been generous in welcoming refugees, but are struggling to meet their needs, as my colleagues said earlier.
Those needs are immense, and include continuity of care for basic illnesses, as well as more complex issues like cancer and renal dialysis, maternal and child health, HIV and TB, sexual and reproductive health and mental health.
Refugees, and many of those who remain in Ukraine, are already very vulnerable – especially women and girls.
Protecting them from abuse and exploitation of all kinds must be a top priority for hosting governments – and for all international organizations.
Mr President, today, I have three urgent requests.
First, we urge the Security Council to work for an immediate ceasefire, and a political solution.
Prolonged conflict is in nobody’s interests, and will only prolong the suffering of the most vulnerable.
The life-saving medicine we need right now is peace.
Second, we urge all donors to support the response to humanitarian needs in in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, which are immense, and escalating every day.
Thanks to donors who front-loaded WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies, we were able to respond immediately, deploying more than US$10 million to address immediate health needs.
These funds were supplemented by additional funding from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF.
However, to sustain the response, we call on donors to fully fund the United Nations emergency appeal. As the Under Secretary-General said, it’s only 36% funded so far.
We thank those donors who have already pledged funding to meet the needs of people in Ukraine.
And third, although Ukraine is rightly the focus of the world’s attention, I urge you not to lose sight of the many other crises in which people are suffering.
In Afghanistan, more than half the population is in need, with widespread malnutrition and a surge in measles, among many other challenges.
In Ethiopia, the blockade of 6 million people in Tigray for almost 500 days has created a catastrophic food and health crisis.
In the Syrian Arab Republic, more than 12 million people are in need of health assistance, almost half of them children.
And in Yemen, roughly two-thirds of the population, more than 20 million people, are estimated to be in need of health assistance.
Mr President, in every case, the only solution is peace. Our world needs peace more than ever.
As if COVID is not enough, to have a devastating war like this is dangerous for the world.
I thank you.
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.