Your Excellency, Ambassador Dlamini,
Your Excellency, Ambassador Aboualatta,
Your Excellency, Ambassador Abusedra, who is not with us here today,
Dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, happy New Year and thank you all for joining us today.
A new year brings new hope.
I'm sure you would all agree that the past three years have been very difficult for the people of Africa, and for the whole world.
It is very pleasing to see that reported cases and deaths from COVID-19 are now at their lowest levels in our continent since the pandemic began.
Although our continent has suffered less than other regions in terms of the number of lives lost, we have suffered the loss of many livelihoods, and in many other ways.
Despite the appalling inequity in access to vaccines that you have faced;
Despite misinformation and disinformation;
And despite the many competing priorities you face, we are now seeing encouraging progress in vaccination coverage in the region.
We continue to urge all Member States to focus on vaccinating all of those most at risk, especially older people and health workers.
The past three years have demonstrated that when health is at risk, everything is at risk.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that health is not just central to development, it's also fundamental to economies and societies, national security and political stability.
There is now unprecedented attention on health, and especially on the need for enhanced health security.
This is a unique opportunity to support countries to make significant changes, and significant investments, in health.
Even before the pandemic, the world was off track to reach WHO's "triple billion" targets and the health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Now we are further behind. Countries are progressing at less than one-quarter of the pace needed to reach the SDG targets and especially the goal of universal health coverage by 2030.
At the World Health Assembly in May, I outlined five priorities for the next five years:
Promoting health;
Providing health;
Protecting health;
Powering health;
And performing for health.
It's important to underline that these "five Ps" do not replace the 13th General Programme of Work or the "triple billion" targets.
In fact, they are fully aligned with the GPW, which Member States approved in 2018 and recently extended to 2025.
The "five Ps" outline the specific actions Member States and the Secretariat must take to accelerate towards the "triple billion" targets and the SDGs.
First, promoting health.
Realising our vision for the highest attainable standard of health starts not in the clinic or the hospital, but in homes, schools, streets, workplaces, supermarkets and cities.
Much of the work that Ministries of Health do is dealing with the consequences of unhealthy diets, unsafe water and sanitation, polluted environments, and dangerous roads.
That's why we are calling on all Member States to make an urgent paradigm shift towards promoting health and well-being and preventing disease, by addressing its root causes, including climate change.
Making this shift means that health can no longer be just the business of the health ministry or the health sector.
It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
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The second priority is providing health, by radically reorienting 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 will continue to support countries to restore essential health services disrupted during the pandemic, including for routine immunization, where we saw the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in 30 years.
As a result, 25 million children missed out on life-saving vaccinations, and catching up is now one of our highest priorities.
We will continue to support the African Union and all Member States to build health systems that are equitable, resilient, and based on primary health care.
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The third priority is protecting health, by strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience.
WHO is working hand-in-hand with African countries and institutions to build capacity on the continent to prepare for, prevent and respond rapidly to future health emergencies.
WHO worked closely with the African Union to establish the African Medicines Agency, which once operational will complement national and regional efforts to protect and promote health in Africa.
In the greater Horn of Africa and the Sahel, WHO and our partners are working to provide access to basic health services, treatment for severe malnutrition and support for countries to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks.
At the request of you, our Member States, WHO has made proposals for strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience.
Our head of emergencies, Dr Mike Ryan, will shortly discuss these proposals with you.
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The fourth priority is powering health, by harnessing science, research, innovation, data, digital technologies and partnership.
Let me give you a few examples.
We are working with several AU Member States to improve civil registration and vital statistics systems, because this is where not only health, but all government supported social services start.
We established the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa,
to give low- and lower-middle income countries the know how to rapidly-produce their own mRNA vaccines.
We are also supporting innovation in finance. For example, the European Investment Bank has announced 500 million Euros to support primary health care in ten African countries, and WHO is supporting the countries to guide these investments.
WHO is also convening the SDG3 Global Action Plan to elevate your voice in driving collaboration, based on your national priorities.
We will also support your countries by scaling innovation and digital health to further accelerate progress.
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The fifth priority is performing for health, by building a stronger, more agile and sustainably financed WHO that is reinforced to play its leading role.
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Your commitment to increase assessed contributions by 50% over the next decade will transform our ability to deliver results where it matters most - in the lives of the people we all serve.
And we must continue our work to build an Organization that has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
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In closing, let me leave you with three priorities for the upcoming Executive Board meeting:
First, we seek your support to ask your capitals to recommend approval of the Programme Budget for 2024-25;
Second, we seek your support and advocacy for the increase in assessed contributions;
And third, we seek your support for the central role of WHO in the health emergencies architecture.
Excellencies,
You are right to have great expectations of your WHO.
You are right to expect results in return for the trust and resources you give us;
You are right to expect enhanced governance, efficiency, accountability and transparency.
That is what my colleagues and I are committed to giving you.
We are determined to make our organization even more effective and efficient, and even more focused on results as we support you, our Member States, to building a healthier, safer, and fairer Africa, and a healthier, safer, and fairer world.
And I am really glad that this is the first regional meeting organized by WHO in 2023, and I am really glad and proud that we are doing this with my own continent, and look forward to having regular briefings.
Thank you so much.
