WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the H20 Summit: The Future of Global Health Diplomacy in a Changing World: The Role of WHO – 19 June 2024

Your Excellency, Ambassador Vincenzo Grassi,

European Investment Bank Vice President, my friend Thomas Östros,

My friend Alan Donnelly, chair of the H20,

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

Thank you all for joining us today, both online and here at WHO's offices in Geneva.

I am honoured to be able to share some thoughts with you today.

But first, I thank the H20 Summit's hosts, Hatice Beton and my friend Alan Donnelly, and thank you also for the AMR global legislatures report that will be launched this afternoon. Thank you for your leadership.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was off-track for the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The pandemic set us even further back. A major course correction, therefore, is needed.

The adoption of WHO's 14th General Programme of Work at the recent World Health Assembly charts a course for global health for the next four years, with a commitment to promote, provide and protect the health of the world's people.

First, promoting health, by addressing the root causes of disease.

Because health is not created primarily in hospitals or clinics, but in homes, streets, markets, workplaces and our environment. That is why it's said, that health is made at home, and hospitals are for repair.

It's created in the air people breathe, the food they eat, and the conditions in which they live and work.

It was the Dutch philosopher Erasmus who said that prevention is better than cure.

500 years later, we are still learning how right Erasmus was.

That's why keeping people healthy and preventing disease is one of the three key priorities in WHO's global strategy for the next four years, and the first pillar.

Of course, when people do need care, they must be able to access the health services they need, without facing financial hardship.

Which is why our second priority is providing health, by supporting countries to reorient their health systems towards primary health care, as the foundation of universal health coverage.

Globally, half the world's population lacks access to essential health services;

And two billion people face financial hardship due to out-of-pocket health spending.

These gaps expose people to so much avoidable suffering and death.

But they also expose individuals, families, communities, nations and the entire world to the impact of epidemics and pandemics.

That's why our third key priority is to make the world safer, by strengthening global health security.

The new Pandemic Agreement, which Member States have been negotiating, is an instrument of international law to keep the world safer.

In addition, the package of amendments on the International Health Regulations that Member States adopted is an historic achievement and a strong signal that multilateralism is alive and well;

These two efforts aim to address the painful lessons the COVID-19 pandemic taught us, so the world does not make the same mistakes when the next pandemic strikes.

At the same time, we face an increasing number of humanitarian crises - Ukraine; Sudan; the occupied Palestinian territory, especially Gaza; just to name a few - where we and our partners are working day in and out to provide essential health services and stem disease outbreaks.

WHO is operating in an increasingly complex environment, in the face of challenges including climate change, aging, migration, advancing science and technology, and a fragmented geopolitical environment.

In the face of all of these challenges, multilateralism is critical.

We need high-level engagement and a commitment to prioritize health at the highest political level, including the G7 and G20.

In their declaration this year, the G7 Leaders once again expressed their strong support for global health and recognised the role of WHO.

Examples of our engagement include the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force, to improve coordination between health and finance to address pandemic preparedness and response;

And the Pandemic Fund, co-led by WHO and the World Bank, to help low- and middle-income countries finance their preparedness for future pandemics.

We also engage regularly with coalitions like the Small Island Developing States, the Commonwealth and the Francophonie.

Of course, our work is multilateral in the service of all of our 194 Member States.

Our focus in the coming years is to strengthen our country offices to make sure we deliver the support that countries need, because results are delivered at the country level.

This is part of WHO's continuing journey of transformation, to make WHO more effective, efficient and accountable.

The new WHO Investment Round aims to mobilize the flexible and predictable funds needed to implement that strategy.

I thank the many countries that have already pledged their support.

Investments in WHO are investments not only in healthier populations, but also in more equitable, more stable, and more secure societies and economies.

2024 and 2025 are years full of possibilities for global health, of course, in the middle of all the challenges that I have already outlined earlier.

This includes high level meetings on antimicrobial resistance and NCDs; and COP 29 on the climate crisis, which includes a focus on health; and the finalization of the negotiations on the pandemic agreement.

Let me leave you with three priorities going forward:

First, continued political commitment at the highest level for global health;

Second, engagement with platforms, such as the H20, that bring sectors to discuss and share ideas and experiences on global health;

And third, sustainable financing for WHO to ensure health for all as well as increased coordination of global health initiatives to ensure sustainable financing for global health.

Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to thank Brazil and His Excellency President Lula for making health a priority of Brazil's G20 presidency. Also for his decision to host the Investment Round for the World Health Organization on the margins of the G20.

Thank you all once again for your support for, and commitment to WHO, and to our shared vision of health for all.

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