Remarks by the Regional Director
Your Excellency, Dr Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania,
Your Excellency, Amira El Fadil, Commissioner of Social Affairs of the African Union,
Distinguished colleagues,
I am very pleased to share some reflections in this important discussion and thank very much, colleagues at the One by One: Target 2030 Campaign for the invitation.
I would like to start by appreciating the strong leadership of the African Union and the Heads of State on the COVID-19 response, through the continental strategy and all-of-government and all-of-society action in implementing public health and social measures.
I would also like to appreciate the contributions of African leaders towards attaining universal health coverage, including through the African Union commitment in February 2019 to improve health financing. This commitment was reaffirmed with the Political Declaration on UHC at the United Nations General Assembly in September last year and support for the Global Action Plan on SDG 3, whose implementation WHO coordinates.
It is our firm belief that everyone should have access to quality health care, without suffering financial hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted that countries with less resilient health systems, and the most vulnerable, marginalized communities and households, suffer more in terms of lives lost and economic impacts due to outbreaks of infectious diseases.
Building on investments from previous epidemics, African countries took early and decisive action, with the support of WHO and our partners, like Africa CDC. Capacities strengthened through Ebola preparedness, such as emergency operations centres, points-of-entry screening and laboratories, have quickly been adapted and repurposed to the COVID-19 response.
By reinforcing public health and health systems capacities, along with physical distancing measures, like stay-at-home orders and stopping mass gatherings, African countries have kept COVID-19 cases lower than in other parts of the world.
Now, as countries ease restrictions, every community should have the public health capacities in place, to prevent a big wave of cases. Health facilities should have the resources, including access to safe water and sanitation, to deal with COVID-19 cases, while continuing to provide other essential services.
We are seeing huge investments related to COVID-19 and this is creating several possibilities and opportunities to accelerate action towards achieving health for all.
At WHO, we have been working with countries, to spend more, and spend smartly on health, by investing in the most impactful interventions, improving efficiencies in the health sector, and strengthening public financial management.
Multisectoral planning and coordination is now ongoing in countries in response to COVID-19, under the leadership of heads of state. This needs to continue in order to advance broader discussions around financing and priority-setting.
Laboratory capacities have been strengthened, and equipment from other disease programmes has been repurposed to COVID-19. Going forward, we should look to shift away from disease-specific approaches towards more integrated laboratory systems in countries.
Similarly, infection prevention and control is important in general in health-care settings. If we can regularly refresh the skills and knowledge built for COVID-19, we have the potential to significantly reduce nosocomial infections in Africa.
We are seeing countries like Ethiopia, Mauritania and South Africa, mobilize thousands of community health workers, to support the COVID-19 response. How can we sustain and transition these investments to benefit other priorities?
Field hospitals have been set-up quickly, and buildings have been repurposed. We are also seeing home-based care for people with mild symptoms and new approaches in providing outreach care and delivering mass campaigns. The lessons from these experiences, should inform the provision of services in future, so that we can continue to expand access to integrated, people-centred care.
This includes using technology in a range of ways, from telemedicine to professional development. For instance, more than 10,000 frontline health workers in Africa have joined virtual trainings led by WHO on intervention areas such as case management for COVID-19 and psychosocial health.
We are also seeing the potential of social media and messaging platforms, in sharing information with communities. We need to look at how to build on these and other efforts to engage communities, for instance, in seeking antenatal care, routine immunization, or antiretroviral therapy.
A huge amount of data is being collected at present and real-time surveillance platforms, using geographic information systems technologies, are becoming increasingly useful. We can make sure the data that is collected, is managed in a timely way to guide decision-making and action.
These and other innovations are key features in this response. At WHO, we have provided seed funding to African innovators to develop mobile apps and low-cost personal protective equipment, for example. Together with governments and the private sector, there is an opportunity here to invest in the innovation ecosystem, to reduce the time it takes to bring new ideas to scale.
Further, in a context of disrupted global supply chains, local production has ramped up. This is an opportunity to strengthen local industries and routinely produce essential supplies domestically. We have seen this is possible even in low-income settings.
The pandemic is also highlighting, the important role of the private sector, in collective action to achieve UHC, and it provides an opportunity to build strong public-private partnerships for emergency preparedness, response, and other health service areas.
Finally, this pandemic has shown beyond a doubt, the importance of all-of-society approaches in health. In solidarity, governments, the private sector, communities, and partners, can shift from short-term investments, towards sustained improvements in resilience and readiness capacities.
In closing, it is very encouraging to see African leaders in both the private and public sector, present here today, leading the way on UHC. I am convinced that together, we will overcome this pandemic and build back better to make health a reality for all people in Africa.
Thank you very much.