Good morning and good afternoon to journalists and others across the Region joining us on World Health Day.
World Health Day is WHO’s birthday. We usually mark it by celebrating progress towards better health, but 2021 is different: we are now in the second year of a once-in-a-century pandemic which is testing our ability to ensure the highest standard
of health for all.
The theme of this year’s World Health Day is “Building a Fairer, Healthier World”, and it calls on us to pay greater attention to addressing inequities. The pre-COVID world was already an unequal one. Unfortunately, the pandemic
has amplified many existing inequities, and even created new ones.
All of us have been affected by COVID-19, but some have been hit harder than others. When this virus enters vulnerable communities, they suffer more. For instance, foreign workers in some countries, people in informal urban settlements, and migrant communities
can face more difficulty with living conditions and access to healthcare.
There’s an important principle at stake here: your vulnerability to infection, and how you fare if you are infected, should not depend on your passport or your paycheck. We should all care about this. And not just because it’s what’s right; also because if the virus is allowed to run rampant among vulnerable groups, it affects whole societies. When infections surge and hospitals are overwhelmed, health workers cannot provide care to anyone.
And it is not just the virus itself that has had an impact on our societies; the measures put in place to contain the virus have taken a heavy toll as well.
Millions of people are now out of work. For the first time in 20 years, global poverty levels are predicted to rise. Across the Asia-Pacific, some 5.9 million children are now at risk of never returning to school. And several countries have reported increases in violence against women and children. Extended lockdowns have meant more time at home, but unfortunately home is not a safe place for everyone.
These issues have profound consequences for physical and mental health – impacts which will be felt not only today, but in the years, and decades, ahead.
These issues highlight the fact that our battle against COVID-19 and its impacts are far from over.
Now I would like to ask our Regional Emergencies Director, Dr Babatunde Olowokure, to provide a brief update on the COVID-19 situation in the Region.
***COVID UPDATE***
Thank you Babatunde. As Babatunde said, COVID-19 has now resulted in more than 2.9 million deaths around the world, including almost 32,000 people in our Region. It fills me with great sadness to think of the lives that have been lost – each
of which is a loved one, whose family and community mourns their loss.
Although we have been comparatively fortunate in this Region, with just 1.5% of globally recorded cases, now several countries are currently experiencing surges.
WHO is analysing countries around the world, and formulating hypotheses on what is driving these surges. We believe multiple factors are contributing.
First, the impact of what we call ‘variants of concern’. Some of these variants appear to spread more easily than the original virus, though we still need more information to confirm the impact of this on the ground.
Second, the relaxing of some public health measures, such as limits on gatherings of people, especially in indoor spaces.
Third, partly as a result of relaxing of these restrictions, increased movement of people in their 20s, 30s, 40s who may have mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, spreading the virus without realizing it. COVID-19 may have limited impact on these people, but
it has a potentially devastating impact on more vulnerable people with whom they come into contact.
And fourth, “vaccine optimism”. This is, the belief that now that vaccines are starting to roll out, the end of the pandemic is near, and we can relax the other measures which reduce transmission. Unfortunately, this is just not the case.
We can anticipate that there will be more of these surges. The virus is still circulating, and we simply cannot let down our guard; not yet. I want to emphasize five points in this regard.
First, I understand that people are sick of this pandemic. I am, too. But despite this fatigue, we must continue with basic prevention measures such as mask wearing, hand washing and maintaining physical distance. At least until the majority
of people in every country have been vaccinated, these are still our most important tools for preventing transmission of the virus.
Second, governments must continue to ensure strong systems for surveillance and early detection of cases, and implement targeted, localized response. Targeted responses reduce the risk of broader community transmission, and minimize economic
and social disruption.
Third, all countries should be strengthening their health care capacity and public health systems to prepare for possible large-scale community transmission. As we have seen in recent weeks, the virus situation can change quickly and our best defence is to be prepared.
Fourth, effective use of vaccines. Vaccines offer us all great hope, but for now they are in relatively short supply. It is vital that these limited doses currently available are given to those who are most at risk of infection, starting
with health workers, and then other vulnerable groups at higher risk of severe disease, such as old people and those with underlying conditions. And we must ensure this happens in all countries as quickly as possible.
And fifth, strengthening surveillance to pick up anything unusual, such as the behaviour of virus variants. Good information which helps us to understand how the virus is behaving is one of our most important tools.
On this note, I’m pleased to share that we are moving towards establishing a genome surveillance network to help countries in the Western Pacific Region to rapidly share information on variants of concern, and support targeted responses.
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To conclude, COVID-19 has shown us that we need to do much, much more to build a fairer and healthier world for the future.
We need to work together to end this pandemic; do better at preparing for and responding to future infectious disease outbreaks; and we need to address the underlying inequalities which make some segments of the population so much more susceptible to serious illness and death.
We can’t do it on our own. We need everyone to come together. This virus can only survive by passing from person to person. Your actions help to protect the vulnerable.
We’ve said from the beginning of this pandemic, that no country is safe until every country is safe. But it’s also true within countries: no community is safe until every community is safe.
That’s what World Health Day calls on us to do this year.
And now I’m happy to take your questions.