RC74 – The Opening Speech of the Regional Director

Submitted by [email protected]on Tue, 27/08/2024 - 10:44

Opening Address to the Seventy-fourth session of the Regional Committee for Africa (RC74)

Excellence Denis Sassou Nguesso, Président de la République du Congo ;

Monsieur Anatole Collinet Makosso, Premier Ministre de la République du Congo ;

Monsieur Gilbert Mokoki, Ministre de la santé et de la population de la République du Congo ;

Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres de la santé et chefs de délégation ;

Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres et autres dignitaires de la République du Congo ;

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Directeur général de l'OMS ;

Excellence Minata Samaté Cessouma, Commissaire à la santé, aux affaires humanitaires et au développement social de l'Union africaine ;

Madame/Monsieur le représentant du Directeur général du CDC-Afrique ;

Monsieur le Coordonnateur résident des Nations Unies et chers collègues des institutions du système des Nations Unies ;

Chers partenaires ;

Distingués invités et représentants de médias ;

Mesdames et Messieurs,

C'est pour moi un grand plaisir et un honneur de vous souhaiter la bienvenue à la soixante-quatorzième session du Comité régional de l'OMS pour l'Afrique.

Je suis particulièrement heureuse de le faire en tant que résidente de Brazzaville.

Mboté!

Boyeyi malamu awa na Brazzaville!

J'exprime ma profonde gratitude à Son Excellence Denis Sassou Nguesso, Président de la République du Congo, à Monsieur Gilbert Mokoki, Ministre de la santé et de la population, ainsi qu'au Gouvernement du Congo dans ses différentes composantes, pour les préparatifs et l'accueil de la présente session et pour les dispositions prises afin de faciliter l'arrivée sans encombre des délégués.

En 1952, l'OMS a transféré de Genève à Brazzaville son Bureau régional de l'Afrique. Depuis 72 ans, la République du Congo accueille notre bureau régional et nous offre un environnement propice à l'accomplissement de notre mission. J'exprime ma profonde gratitude au gouvernement et au peuple congolais pour leur générosité.

Depuis 2009, la République du Congo s'efforce de mettre en place la couverture sanitaire universelle. Le pays a fourni aux citoyens vulnérables des traitements gratuits contre le VIH/sida et la tuberculose, et un éventail de soins destinés à la mère et à l'enfant.

Le pays a aussi réalisé des progrès concrets et obtenu des résultats, avec le soutien de notre bureau de pays et d'autres partenaires, en ce qui concerne la décentralisation du financement et l'accès aux services, ainsi que l'utilisation de la technologie.

Monsieur le Président, votre rôle de chef de file dans la préservation de l'environnement naturel, et dans la lutte contre les changements climatiques n'est plus à démontrer.

Votre engagement en faveur de la reforestation et de la protection des cours d'eau est une source d'inspiration pour nous ; il est en effet urgent de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre pour une meilleure santé et pour le développement.

L'Afrique ne produit qu'une fraction des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre, mais subit déjà énormément les conséquences des changements climatiques.

Permettez-moi, Monsieur le Président, de vous adresser cet appel.

Nous serions très heureux que vous fassiez entendre votre voix pour mettre en évidence les effets des changements climatiques sur la santé.

Nous serions honorés que vous puissiez faire campagne pour que des ressources soient mises à la disposition des pays africains afin d'atténuer ces effets grâce à des systèmes de santé et à des secteurs préparés et résilients.

À l'OMS, nous menons des initiatives visant à réduire les conséquences des changements climatiques sur la santé. Récemment, le Ministre de la santé de la République du Sénégal a été désigné champion de l'OMS en ce qui concerne les changements climatiques et la santé. Un partenariat entre le Congo et le Sénégal serait synergique et productif.

Je vous remercie par avance pour votre soutien, Monsieur le Président.

***
I'm sincerely grateful to the Government of Botswana for hosting last year's very successful Seventy-third session of the Regional Committee for Africa.

I thank the Chairperson of the session, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, the Minister of Health and Wellness of Botswana, and His Excellency President Masisi.

We have greatly benefited from his leadership and availability for governing body discussions and events throughout the past year. I also congratulate Dr Dikoloti for his work presiding over the Seventy-seventh session of the World Health Assembly in May.

Likewise, I greatly appreciate the valuable assistance of the two Vice-chairs: Dr Austin Demby, the Minister of Health and Sanitation of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and Dr Pierre Somse, the Minister of Health and Population of the Central African Republic. Thank you for your service and dedication.

***
Excellencies, colleagues and friends,

We're living in a challenging global environment.

Economic difficulties - debt servicing, growing wealth inequalities, and conflicts - are slowing down investment in priority health programmes.

Some nations are bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the poorest ones are having difficulties, with many experiencing deteriorating conditions - below 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

We're seeing development unfolding in very unequal ways.

Why does this matter?

It creates more vulnerability and inequity, making it even more difficult to achieve the SDG-health targets.

As a region, we must unite and encourage the rest of the world to join forces against the major threats of the 21st century, especially climate change, the next pandemic, and NCDs, driven, among others, by unhealthy diets and the use of tobacco.

These threats demand international collaboration, not conflicts.

They require government leadership and the public and private sectors to work together, with fairness.

The last World Health Assembly focused our attention on disease prevention and health promotion; it gave us tools for collaboration.

The historic package of amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) and ongoing discussions for the Pandemic Treaty illustrated dramatically what we were aware of - the interconnectedness of geopolitics, economics, business, and other sectoral areas of development with health.

I salute African Member States for your role and participation in these processes.

Having served in global health for a long time, I'm proud of how Africa is raising its voice to shape global health issues, helping to build international dialogue. Thank you for this commitment; let us not waver from it.

What is needed as engagement in the treaty discussions and negotiations is consensus over the outstanding issues; only with this can we reach our shared goal of a pandemic agreement for a safer and more equitable world. We are ready to continue providing support in this area.

Emerging from COVID-19's impact and other shocks, the continent faces a challenging period in health financing to meet increasing needs.

I applaud our Member States' efforts to explore additional financing for health security through the Pandemic Fund and other funding sources.

I welcome the presence of Ms Priya Basu, the Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund, and her team. It would be wonderful if other donors would consider using the proposals developed by our Member States to supplement funding from the Pandemic Fund.

***

I am also encouraged that our governments, through your actions Honourable Ministers, have recognized the "silent epidemic" of noncommunicable diseases sweeping across our region.

We are grateful for the expanding partnerships that are supporting our efforts to tackle NCDs through a person-centred approach, with a focus on addressing risks, early detection, and prevention; and leveraging other programme service delivery platforms, especially primary health care services.

Emerging diseases and the changing pattern of existing diseases continue to affect our populations. Our DG declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern-which aligns with the Africa CDC's declaration of the same outbreak as a "public health emergency of continental security."

We are working with governments, within our joint action plan, communities of the affected countries, UNICEF, NGOs, civil society, and other partners, to understand and address the drivers of the different outbreaks.

Significant efforts are already underway, with our country teams working on the frontlines to help reinforce measures to curb the spread. The 3 levels of WHO are working together to scale up international action to support countries and bring the outbreaks to an end.

We continue to advocate for the necessary diagnostic, therapeutic tools and vaccines. We provide technical support for regulatory approvals through the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF), and support the local manufacturing agenda.

The WHO mRNA Technology Transfer Hub, based in our region, supports the development and transfer of versatile technology to countries in Africa and around the world.

***

WHO's new global health strategy-GPW14-charts how to deal with emergencies and other challenging problems. The WHO Investment Round aims to ensure flexible, predictable funding for full implementation of GPW14 in support of our Member States.

We must ensure that our health systems can cater for the population of 1.5 billion people who call Africa home, so they can get the healthcare they need.

The COVID-19 pandemic's greatest lesson was the need for sustainable investments towards resilient health systems and primary health care.

The continued delivery of essential health services, even after shocks, requires close partnerships with communities and civil society.

Your Excellency, Honourable Ministers and partners,

Primary health care also needs health workers. But many of our health workers are migrating.

For example, in Uganda, the emigration of doctors increased by 16% in three years, while in Zimbabwe, during the same period, over one in five doctors has left the country.

In May, I was very pleased to launch the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter to address the critical shortage of health workers in the region, with the support of the Government of Namibia, and the participation of partners. The Charter will bring together stakeholders to stimulate and align investment in the health workforce.

We are determined to support our health workers so that they find motivation in our health systems.

***
Excellencies, colleagues, and friends,

We have a busy week, Execellencies,- including discussions on tackling public health emergencies, non-communicable disease, local production of medicines and vaccines, climate resilient and sustainable health systems and other important topics.

We will explore priority topics in four special events, five side events, and three breakfast meetings.

I genuinely appreciate and anticipate your usual active participation.

This evening, we will have the "Ten Years of the Transformation Agenda of WHO in the African Region" special event. I look forward to seeing you all.

This Seventy-seventh session of the Regional Committee will elect my successor.

This is thus my last opening speech at a regional committee session.

Serving as the 7th WHO Regional Director for Africa, the first woman to do so, has been the highest honour of my life - visiting your communities, listening to and learning from you, and working across sectors to deliver results for your countries.

I'm grateful to our Member States, particularly the Honourable Ministers, for collaborating with me and our team to achieve the Transformation. We have had many new ministers recently appointed; I extend a special welcome to them.

I'm thankful to our partners for their conviction and investment in the Transformation.

I'm indebted to my WHO colleagues for working so hard to implement it.

I can't thank everyone enough for the numerous awards and honours, and my memorable time in Brazzaville. And I thank the Congolese people for making me feel at home:

Matondi!

Matondi mingi!

I look forward to handing over to my successor.

And I will do so with pride for a "mission accomplished":

Never before has healthy life expectancy been so high in the African region.

Never before have fewer young children died each year, or fewer women died of maternal causes.

Never before have we responded to emergencies in so short a time.

Never before have malaria vaccines been introduced into routine child immunization schedules in Africa (after centuries of waiting).

Never before has Africa's youthful population more actively embraced the use of technology and digital tools to transform our actions in health.

Never before have governments and partners been so determined to make a better impact - through supporting integrated approaches to addressing health problems; focusing on people; and reducing the fragmentation that has limited the outcomes of significant health investments.

Never before have more senior women managers served the WHO African Region.

And never before has the WHO African Region attained its current levels of accountability and financial management, and been praised globally for improved risk management.

These achievements (as we'll see this evening) have made the ten years of my leadership of WHO in this region a rewarding experience.

I look forward to great discussions and decisions to build on and cement these results, for the future.

Thank you, once again, for your presence, contribution, and partnership - and for your actions in countries to improve the African people's health and lives.

Thank you very much!