Your Excellency Minister Yoshimasa,
Honourable Secretary Blinken,
Excellences, colleagues and friends,
First, I would like to express my shock and sorrow at the death of former Prime Minister Abe. We grieve his passing, and give thanks for his work and legacy.
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I fully concur with Secretary Blinken on the progress we have made. But the pandemic is not over, as he said.
In the past six weeks, the number of reported weekly cases has doubled, driven by new Omicron subvariants.
Deaths are also increasing, although not at the same rate - so far.
The COVID 19 Global Action Plan provides a necessary platform for political leadership and engagement.
Today I seek your support for three key priorities:
First, I seek your continuing commitment to end the pandemic.
Crucially, that means focusing on vaccinating all health workers, all older people and all at-risk groups, on the way to achieving 70% vaccination coverage in all countries.
We must also ensure access to tests and new treatments, like oral antivirals, which requires urgent funding for the ACT Accelerator.
Second, I seek your commitment to the development and implementation of a more robust and resilient global architecture for health emergency preparedness and response.
Central to this architecture is the need for a new accord or treaty on pandemic preparedness and response, which WHO Member States are continuing to negotiate in Geneva this week.
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Enhanced financing is also essential, which is why we seek your support for the proposed Financial Intermediary Fund, with financial and administrative leadership from the World Bank, and technical leadership from WHO.
And third, I seek your commitment to a big-picture approach to safeguarding health against threats of all kinds.
The world faces a dangerous confluence of crises, including the war in Ukraine, heatwaves and wildfires in Europe, spiralling inflation and cost-of-living in many countries, and humanitarian crises in the Greater Horn of Africa, the Sahel and elsewhere.
As a former Foreign Minister myself, I am all too aware of the competing demands you face for your attention.
The pandemic has demonstrated the centrality of health to social, economic and political stability.
I therefore urge you to support the WHO Global Appeal for Health Emergency Response operations, to fund WHO's work on the many crises to which we are responding around the world.
Likewise, I urge you to support the forthcoming replenishment of The Global Fund, to support its vital work against the world's leading infectious killers, like malaria, TB and HIV.
Once again, my thanks to you, Minister Yoshimasa and Secretary Blinken, for hosting this critical discussion at this critical time.
Health and foreign policy, as you know, are inextricably linked. We must work together to save lives, protect the future, and speed the recovery.
Thank you moderator, back to you.
