The Honourable Governing Mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey,
My friend Karl Lauterbach,
President of the Virchow Foundation, Professor Dr Gerald Haug;
Your Excellency Monica Geingos, First Lady of Namibia,
And as we're hosting the Summit together, I would like to address Axel Radlach,
And the Prize winner Ambassador John Nkengasong,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Guten abend. It is an honour to be here.
I thank the Virchow Foundation for Global Health and the City of Berlin for hosting us tonight, and for bringing us together to recognize our friend John.
The Virchow Prize symbolizes outstanding achievement in global health; but it also symbolizes Germany's leadership in global health in recent years.
They say that in a crisis, you really find out who your friends are, and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany has been a true friend to WHO.
When the pandemic struck, the German government moved quickly to expand its financial support for WHO, becoming our biggest donor. Germany was also one of the first supporters of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
That same year, the German Government launched its ambitious Global Health Strategy 2020.
And last year, I had the honour of being here in Berlin to open the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, with Chancellor Merkel.
As a Berliner, Rudolf Virchow would have been proud.
It was just two days ago that we celebrated Dr Virchow's two hundred-and-first birthday.
Dr Virchow was a public health pioneer, with his recognition that health started long before the patient arrived at the doctor's office, and that economic and socials conditions were fundamental.
And that remains true.
Health begins not in hospitals and clinics, but in homes, schools, streets, supermarkets, workplaces and cities.
Indeed, much of the work that health systems do is not health care, but sick care - dealing with the consequences of poor diets, polluted environments, unsafe roads and workplaces, inadequate health literacy, and the aggressive marketing of harmful products.
That's why WHO is calling on all countries to make an urgent paradigm shift towards promoting health and preventing disease, by addressing the root causes of disease and creating the social, economic and environmental conditions in which health can thrive.
I had a first bilateral meeting today with my friend Karl Lauterbach and that was one of the issues we discussed: health promotion and healthy lives, addressing the root causes should be at the centre of global health.
Making that shift requires a radical reorientation of health systems towards primary health care, as the foundation of universal health coverage.
Primary health care is the best investment in promoting health and preventing disease - but it also operates as the "eyes and ears" of the health system, detecting and responding to outbreaks at their earliest stage.
This is something that my brother John Nkengasong knows only too well.
As the former Director of the Africa CDC, John knows that outbreaks start and end in communities, and that weaknesses in health systems at the local level can become national, regional or even global risks.
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And now as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, John knows only too well that it's the strength of the health system at the local level that can make the difference between preventing an HIV infection, or not; between early diagnosis, or not; between early treatment, or not; and between life and death.
John's work in bridging the gap for equitable healthcare for the world's most underserved and vulnerable is an inspiration to us all, and especially for the next generation of African health leaders.
My brother, my colleague, my friend: congratulations. Not only to you, but also to your beautiful family that has joined you tonight. This award is richly deserved.
I am proud of you. Africa is proud of you. We are all proud of you.
Vielen dank. I thank you.
