Esteemed guests, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, it's an honour to welcome you to this important discussion.
Polio eradication has been one of the biggest collective endeavours in the history of global health.
Along the way, polio workers are an indispensable public health asset.
They deliver vaccines, detect disease outbreaks, respond to emergencies, and support primary health care, often in fragile settings.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of health workers, including some in the room with us today, worked tirelessly on the frontline to tackle the virus.
As we move closer to a polio-free world, we must work to sustain the incredible infrastructure that has been set up to eradicate polio.
This includes polio workers, whose network and skills could be used to support public health and immunization more broadly.
The polio programme's far-reaching disease surveillance network also acts as a vital 'early warning system' for disease outbreaks.
A transformation of this scale and complexity has never been done in public health.
We have a huge challenge, and a huge opportunity.
As we have always said, transition and eradication are two sides of the same coin. They must progress hand-in-hand.
This must be a collective effort. Countries, donors, partners, civil society and health workers, are our essential partners.
Success cannot be measured in plans and processes - it must be measured in what we achieve together in the communities we serve.
Let me leave you with three specific challenges.
First, we must make sure we fully learn and apply the lessons from polio transition in more than 50 countries.
Transition will look different in each country. There is no single pathway forward, but there are lessons and principles that can apply in all countries.
Second, as we move forward, we must make sure we put in place systems that are more robust and fit for purpose.
Strong health systems are a prerequisite for countries to stay polio-free. A successful transition is built on achieving and sustaining eradication, and delivering on broader health services that support countries on their journey towards universal health coverage.
And third, we must make sure those systems - including for surveillance - are integrated across the spectrum of disease. This will be subject to further discussion at the TINB, and I look forward to the results of that discussion.
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The path ahead might not always be easy - the tragic situation in Sudan shows how quickly a situation can change. Our thoughts are with the colleagues who could not join us today.
We can - and we will - eradicate polio. But our work must not end there.
Eradicating polio and safeguarding its legacy with stronger health systems will be a gift for our children, and our children's children.
I thank you.
