Opening High-Level Segment of the 68th World Health Assembly

Mr. President
Mr. Berset
Director-General Chan
Distinguished Delegates:

It is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome you to International Geneva and to the Palais des Nations for the 68th World Health Assembly.

The promotion of global public health is a key aspect of our collective work here to advance peace, rights and well-being for all. Through facilitation of equitable access to health services, promotion of health-enabling conditions and encouragement of cooperation among multilateral agencies, national authorities and other stakeholders, the World Health Organization has made remarkable public health progress possible over the past 68 years. We are now at a crossroads where important decisions have to be made to enable an effective continuation of these efforts. This year’s World Health Assembly is a critical opportunity for the international community to shape our public health agenda and our main institution for delivery on global public health.

The importance of effective and equitable health systems for attaining the Millennium Development Goals is undeniable. It reaches far beyond the health-specific goals such as maternal health and infectious diseases, as health is also vital to progress on extreme poverty, education and many other aspects of human development. The work of the World Health Organization to support Member States in implementation has had a far-reaching impact in lives saved, disabilities avoided and quality of life enhanced. Because development can only be sustainable and lasting when societies provide fundamental public services, such as healthcare.

Recent challenges faced by national health systems and regional and international health communities have again demonstrated the importance of strengthening prevention, preparedness, response and recovery capabilities. The Ebola disease outbreak has brought home how rapidly an epidemic can spread in the absence of strong and effective health systems capable of a rapid and integrated response. There is no doubt that the outbreak put the international health system, including the World Health Organization, to a severe test.

Health systems must be resilient and capable of adapting successfully in the face of the health emergencies of our globalized world. And to build resilient health systems, it is essential to organize better international coordination and cooperation. Just as adequate reforms in affected countries are needed, without which the existing weaknesses will only grow bigger. These must be critical elements in the post-2015 development agenda.

It is a shared responsibility of all Member States to work together in strengthening health systems to make them more resilient to external shocks. Vulnerable countries should be supported in acquiring the necessary human and technical resources to be able to react quickly.

In global public health, just as across the United Nations agenda, we need to reinforce our commitment to prevention. Research and experience from previous epidemics have clearly shown what needs to be done. We have the knowledge and the technical expertise both to prevent and to react quicker and better when epidemics do break out. But it requires commitment and funding to put this experience to effective use. It is an investment that pays dividends in terms of lives and money saved in the longer term. I appeal now to Member States to maintain and expand their investment in health infrastructure and resilience. Institutional reform will not deliver better results if not backed by adequate resources.

With its concentration and collaboration of global public health experts from international organizations, non-governmental organizations and a range of multi-stakeholder initiatives, International Geneva provides an ideal platform for addressing these issues ahead of the Sustainable Development Summit in September and advancing urgently needed ideas for reform of the global health sector.

We are honoured today to welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel who will be joining the World Health Assembly later. Her presence underlines the support of the G-7 through its presidency to improving the capability of the international community to quickly detect and react to health emergencies as well as to prevent them by investing in resilient national health systems.

When working towards a shared vision through different multilateral bodies and groupings, I believe that we can achieve these ambitious goals. This 68th World Health Assembly provides the ideal opportunity to set the course and is a unique chance to help define how to ensure universal access to health as part of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

Thank you very much.