Statement Solidarity and partnership to save lives: how WHO/Europe worked with the European Union to respond to COVID 19

Statement by the WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge

Copenhagen, 22 August 2024

Partnerships in health are essential at the best of times, but absolutely critical during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the pandemic seemingly fading from memory - including that of WHO Member States across Europe and central Asia - we must remember that partnerships and collaboration are more crucial than ever. They help us to address the health emergencies we are facing now, and to better prepare for those that lie ahead, arriving faster than ever before.

A standout example of such collaboration is the trusted and reliable partnership between WHO/Europe and the European Union (EU), driven by our shared commitment to protecting the health and well-being of all people in this region.

This is a partnership that deserves to be recognized for saving lives during one of the biggest health emergencies in generations. It extends beyond emergencies, however, to encompass a range of public health priorities, strengthening health systems as a whole.

Our continuing joint efforts span numerous health initiatives, from harnessing digital technologies and innovation to reducing the harms caused by alcohol consumption.

This partnership has grown stronger with each collaborative endeavour, exemplified by our impactful support for the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination in Eastern Partnership countries - a project that closes this month after 4 years. This initiative is a prime example of our effective cooperation throughout past and ongoing EU-funded projects.

Our immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) was made possible through the EU-funded Solidarity for Health project, a joint initiative that addressed urgent needs such as securing personal protective equipment and training health-care workers and frontline responders in COVID-19 infection prevention.

This crucial initial step laid the groundwork for the complex task of vaccine deployment once COVID-19 vaccines became available.

In 2021, as countries battled the devastating second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hope for relief rested on the prospect of vaccination. Immunization programmes in the Eastern Partnership countries faced significant challenges during the pandemic in maintaining high coverage with routine vaccinations and introducing COVID-19 vaccines.

Ensuring vaccine access and administering vaccines to diverse populations spread over vast distances in the 6 Eastern Partnership countries posed unprecedented logistical and operational hurdles, all amidst significant disruptions to essential public health services, including routine immunization.

The latest research shows that COVID-19 vaccines have, so far, saved an estimated 1.6 million lives in the WHO European Region since the rollout began in late 2020 - another testament to the power of vaccines.

However, access to COVID-19 vaccines, in part through the COVAX mechanism, was only the first step. Preparing for the vaccines' arrival and effective use required action on multiple fronts, including ensuring public acceptance, establishing legal and regulatory frameworks, organizing supply chain logistics, strengthening surveillance capacities, managing vaccination data, and monitoring vaccine safety.

This endeavour involved a wide range of activities, from acquiring essential cold chain equipment for the transportation and storage of vaccines, to conducting behavioural insights research to identify barriers to vaccination.

With its €42 million budget, the joint EU-WHO project in the Eastern Partnership countries provided a lifeline, helping countries prepare for and deploy COVID-19 vaccines while also contributing to stronger national immunization systems and enhancing the capacities of the health workforce to deliver immunization services. By prioritizing those most at risk, including health workers, older individuals, and people with underlying health conditions, this project aimed to create lasting changes well beyond the pandemic.

In response to the additional challenges posed by the ongoing war in Ukraine, the project was adapted to meet emerging needs triggered by the crisis, demonstrating the resilience and flexibility of our partnership.

Pockets of under-vaccination and vulnerability to vaccine-preventable diseases across the WHO European Region, including the Eastern Partnership countries, were further exacerbated by the pandemic, leading to outbreaks of measles and pertussis in the past year. Through our collaborative efforts over the past 4 years, we succeeded in strengthening each country's capacity to achieve and sustain high routine immunization coverage and respond to public health emergencies in a timely fashion.

Additionally, we introduced educational modules to help children - and by extension the wider public - become more resilient to vaccine misinformation, thus contributing to more equitable access to immunization benefits as envisioned in the European Immunization Agenda 2030.

Ultimately, preventing disease outbreaks through immunization is fundamental to protecting public health and stability in our Region.

I extend my gratitude to our colleagues at the EU Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) for this invaluable opportunity to work together towards this critical goal. As we look to the future and the inevitable challenges ahead in this age of permacrisis, I am confident our partnership with the EU will continue to grow and benefit the entire WHO European Region.

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