Commissioner Kyriakides,
President Hoyer,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good afternoon, it's an honour to be here.
I thank President Hoyer for his hospitality, and also for his leadership and partnership in health.
More than two years ago our institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding, and since then we have had a very productive relationship, working together to support low- and middle- income countries to make progress towards the health targets in the Sustainable Development Goals.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful demonstration that when health is at risk, everything is at risk.
The pandemic has disrupted societies, economies, businesses, trade, politics, education and many other facets of life.
On the other hand, when health is protected and promoted, individuals, families, communities, economies and nations can thrive.
The best way to do this is to invest in and reorient health systems towards primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage.
More than 90% of essential health services can be delivered through primary health care, including many services to promote health, prevent disease, and avoid or delay the need for more costly secondary and tertiary care.
As the "eyes and ears" of the health system, primary health care also plays a vital role in detecting outbreaks at their earliest stages.
We thank the EIB for its commitment of 500 million Euros to support primary health care in sub-Saharan countries.
And we welcome your plans to extend this partnership to other countries and regions.
This investment will provide much-needed support to national governments to strengthen primary health care, and improve capacities to prepare for, prevent and respond to health emergencies.
Our partnership also extends to other areas such as polio eradication and paediatric oncology services.
This work has already begun in Africa and the Middle East, where WHO is guiding EIB's investments to ensure maximum impact, based on country needs.
These investments come at a critical juncture.
Currently, the world is going at one-quarter the pace needed to reach the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
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As an example, consider that even before the pandemic hit, the estimated annual financing gap for 67 low- and middle-income countries to reach the health-related SDGs was 134 billion US dollars per year, rising to 371 billion US dollars by 2030.
Things have only become more difficult, and the pressures on economies and multilateral institutions greater, in the wake of COVID-19.
Globally, we face a confluence of crises, with conflict, migration, inflation, food insecurity, and the existential threat of climate change, with more frequent and more extreme droughts, floods, hurricanes, and more.
International finance institutions will play a critical role in supporting countries to meet these challenges.
Resources are finite precious, so it's vital that we tailor and target investments carefully for the biggest impact.
That's what our partnership with EIB is all about.
WHO is grateful to have a partner in President Hoyer and the EIB, which recognizes that an investment in health is an investment in healthy prosperous communities, and in the future.
I thank you.
