Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,
I would like to welcome all of our Geneva-based members of the press and I'm glad we are meeting today in person.
Once upon a time, the nations of the world had a vision.
After years of war, they realised that it was better to work with each other than fight with each other.
They realised that a healthier world was a safer world.
Their vision was clear, but bold: the highest possible standard of health, for all people.
To achieve that vision, they agreed to set up a new organization.
They debated and agreed what this organization would be and do in a document called the Constitution of the World Health Organization.
Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the day that Constitution came into force.
It was, and is, a landmark document.
The WHO Constitution was the first document in history to formally recognize health as a human right.
Since then, the world has made significant progress towards realizing that vision.
Life expectancy globally, for both sexes, has increased from 46 to 73 years, with the biggest gains in the poorest countries.
Smallpox has been eradicated, and polio is on the brink;
These are actually two of the important highlights during the 75 years of existence of the Organization.
Forty-two countries have eliminated malaria;
The epidemics of HIV and TB have been pushed back;
47 countries have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease;
In the past 20 years alone, smoking has fallen by a third, maternal mortality has fallen by a third and child mortality has halved;
Just in the past five years, new vaccines for Ebola and malaria have been developed and licensed;
And for the past 3 years, WHO has coordinated the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic - the most severe health crisis in a century.
We can't claim sole credit for these achievements, but we have played a leading role in all of them. Partnering with many partners, especially our Member States.
And although we have many achievements of which to be proud, we still face many challenges - some old, some new.
Around the world, people still face vast disparities in access to health services, between and within countries and communities.
Since 2000, access to essential services has increased significantly, but at least half the world's population still lacks access to one or more services like family planning, basic sanitation, or access to a health worker.
Often this is because of where people live, their gender, their age or who they are - people living in poverty, refugees and migrants, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups.
Meanwhile, since 2000, the number of people who experience financial hardship from out-of-pocket health spending has increased by a third, to almost two billion.
Noncommunicable diseases now account for more than 70 percent of all deaths globally. Rates of diabetes and obesity have increased dramatically, driven by unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.
Progress against malaria and TB has stalled;
Antimicrobial resistance threatens to unwind a century of medical progress;
Air pollution and climate change are jeopardizing the very habitability of our planet;
And as COVID-19 has exposed so brutally, there remain serious gaps in the world's defences against epidemics and pandemics.
For all these reasons and more, the world needs WHO now more than ever.
Two meetings in Geneva this week highlight the challenges we face, and the work we are doing with our Member States to address them.
The first is a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, which is discussing the "zero draft" of the pandemic accord.
Like the WHO Constitution itself, the accord is a generational commitment to face shared threats with a shared response.
No nation can protect itself against future epidemics and pandemics without the engagement and cooperation of all nations.
Over the next year, countries will continue to negotiate the accord in preparation for the World Health Assembly in 2024, where it will be presented for adoption.
The second meeting being held this week is the Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health.
Health workers are the backbone of every heath system. Put simply, there is no health without health and care workers.
And yet many countries face severe shortages of health and care workers, and many of those they have, migrate to other countries for better pay and conditions.
WHO estimates that on current trends, the world will face a shortage of 10 million health and care workers by 2030 - with the most acute shortages in the poorest countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the immense value of health and care workers.
And yet an estimated 50% of health and care workers experienced burnout during the pandemic.
Even before COVID-19, many health and care workers worked in unsafe conditions, with low pay and inadequate training.
And although women account for almost 7 in 10 health workers globally, they hold less than 1 in 4 senior jobs in the health sector. Many female health workers also face gender-based violence in the workplace.
As the world rebuilds from the pandemic, we are calling on all countries to protect and invest in their health and care workforce, with safe working conditions, decent pay, protection of labour rights, and protection from violence and discrimination.
Alongside the Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, WHO also today launched a new campaign to improve emergency care training for nurses and midwives.
Nurses and midwives play a key role in emergency situations.
When emergency care is delivered well, the chance of surviving an injury or life-threatening illness increases dramatically, while the risk of a long-term disability is significantly reduced.
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To provide high-quality emergency care, nurses and midwives require high-quality education and training.
Our new campaign is called 25x25x25: our goal is to support 25 countries to train 25 percent of their nurses and midwives in WHO's Basic Emergency Care course by the end of 2025.
Finally, this year marks the fourth edition of the WHO Health for All Film Festival.
This year, nearly 800 film makers from 106 countries submitted short films in six categories, on themes including the health impacts of the climate crisis, COVID-19, mental health, malaria, disability and more.
Ninety films have been chosen for the shortlist, for review by a jury of international artists and development leaders. The winners will be announced in June 2023.
The shortlisted films are available on WHO's YouTube channel in six playlists, one for each of the competition categories.
We encourage everyone to watch the films, make comments and share those they like most on social media.
Film is a powerful way to tell stories about health.
WHO's own story began 75 years ago, and it is still being written.
The challenges we face today are very different to those in 1948, but our vision remains unchanged: the highest possible standard of health, for all people.
Fadéla, back to you.
