Honourable Minister Dr Akmaral Alnazarova,
Professor Mariana Mazzucato,
Professor Ilona Kickbusch,
Secretary-General Martin Chungong,
EIB Vice President Thomas Östros,
Amref CEO Dr Githinji Gitahi,
Dear colleagues and friends,
An estimated 4.5 billion people lack access to the essential health services they need, and two billion face financial hardship due to health costs.
Multiple crises - from disasters to conflict to the climate emergency - only make things worse, especially for the most vulnerable.
All this is occurring in the context of a global macroeconomic downturn.
At last year's World Health Assembly, the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All, chaired by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, published its final report, setting out a bold new vision for health for all as a public policy objective.
The Council proposed concrete, evidence-based recommendations on how to rethink, reframe and restructure economies to deliver healthier populations. I commend the report to you.
As I have said many times, investments in health and in UHC should not be seen as a cost, but as an investment in healthy, productive and resilient societies.
Fundamentally, UHC is a political choice.
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But it's a choice that must be translated into budgetary action.
At the UN General Assembly last year, world leaders committed to investing in primary health care as the foundation of UHC.
They also committed to investing in health promotion and disease prevention, education and training, and the health and care workforce.
Since 2000, 30% of Member States have made progress in expanding both service coverage and financial protection towards UHC.
Many more countries have introduced legislation, reforms and increased investments towards UHC over the past year, including Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.
WHO and our partners are supporting countries on the road to UHC, by developing national health investment plans.
Of course, investment plans must be supported with investments.
That's why last year, WHO joined a coalition of multilateral development banks to establish the Health Impact Investment Platform, which marries WHO's technical expertise with the financial muscle of development banks to design and deliver health projects, aligned with country priorities.
We aim to start making disbursements from September.
It's vital that all international funding is better aligned with national plans, priorities and systems, as recommended in the Lusaka Agenda.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and comments, as we work together to finance a healthier world for all.
I thank you.
