001our health systems and societies as well as the reputation of our organization to my surprise I have learned recently that the last Edelman trust barometer survey shows that the who is still the most trusted multilateral organization I see this as a vote of confidence but also as a responsibility to be transparent and keep working hard in promoting Health keeping the world safe and saving the vulnerable there are quite a few challenges on our hands to put it mildly we have a heavy agenda ahead of us with 47 items and sub items to be discussed and over 20 resolutions and decisions to be adopted some of the items have already benefited from fruitful discussions during the program budget and administrative committee meeting last week under the excellent leadership of the pivot chair Miss aishat rishne I'm
002looking forward to the report tomorrow it will certainly make our work better focused and shorten our discussions other more technical items will still need our full consideration in the next eight days let me at this point refer to a very productive informal EB retreat in November last year where we have discussed how to ensure that our discussions are more focused and concise which is also in line with the agile member state test group recommendations some of the ideas were reflected in the guidelines sent to you earlier this month let me sub sum up for you those most important first we are all encouraged to be concise when talking taking the floor and focus on the guiding questions provided in the reports of the Secretariat we will have these guiding questions projected on the screen during
003our debates second I hope that many of you have posted online your written statements for all of us to be able to read them in advance and to take them into consideration for our discussions you can still post your written statements on the who website or if you have a longer statement with the information you would like to share Additionally you may send it to the email address statements at who Point int and share with us only the most important points orally please be reminded that written statements will not be included in the summary record of the meeting all the introductions anyway are in the informal note you have received from the Secretariat in preparation for the meeting it is my hope that these Innovations will allow for more Dynamic and meaningful discussion and at
004the same time for sharing good practice and experience from your National context other Retreat we have also discussed how to best engage ngos and Civil Society in the work of our governing bodies they are crucial in identifying the needs of our populations and in particular the needs of those most vulnerable Civil Society is also important when it comes to the implementation on the ground and in for the for ensuring that nobody is Left Behind they are thus also encouraged to share their views and knowledge in a written form in advance it is very important for us EB members to be able to take in consideration statements of non-state actors I also want to share with you that there has been a session of the first who youth council meeting on Saturday they are still around
005today and looking forward to talking to you EB members I believe their views can enrich our discussions before finishing my opening remarks I wanted to wholeheartedly thank all of you my fellow EB members and the Secretariat team for all the invaluable support during my sharing so far I truly count on you since only together we can make a progress I would also like to address a special welcome to seven new members of the board from Canada Mr Nicolas palanke from Colombia sir Jamie Hernan Rego Rodriguez from Japan Dr yasuhiro Suzuki from Malaysia Dr zalia Mustafa from Oman Dr hilal Ali hilal al-sapti from Peru Dr sa Rosa guterres Palomino from Rwanda Dr Sabin and sansi Mana I quarterly greet all representatives of member states also observers the United Nations various United Nations bodies and specialized
006agencies other intergovernmental organizations and non-state actors in official relations with whose participation is further evidence of the close relations between who and these organizations finally Welcome to our Secretariat colleagues who are following and supporting the deliberations of this meeting and thank you interpreters for enabling us to understand each other now let us turn to the consideration of the agenda for this session of the board in accordance with the provisions of the rules of procedure the board has before it these sessions provisional agenda which is contained in document a b 150 2 1 and a b 152 1 annotated in accordance with rule eight of rules of procedure of the executive board the officers of the board met with the director General on 4th in October 2022 to review the draft provisional agenda of the 152nd
007session of the board that had been circulated to member states on 27th June 200 2020. proposals received from member states by the deadline of 19 September were considered and the provisional agenda was agreed by the officers of the board at this time I would like to propose the deletion of the following agenda item as I understand it is not needed item 24.1 independent expert oversight advisory committee membership this is being proposed for deletions since there are not any proposals on membership that have been put forward for the consideration of the board may I take it that this proposal is acceptable as I see no objection it is so decided are there any further comments on the provisional agenda I see Denmark Denmark the floor is yours thank you chair DG fellow members of the executive
008board colleagues the European Union Works closely with the World Health Organization on a wide range of subjects within the European region on a global level as agreed in the exchange of letters in 2000 between The Who and the European commission concerning the consolidation and intensification of cooperation and without prejudice to any future conclusion of a general agreement between The Who and the European Union the European Union delegation attends the meetings of the executive board as an observer as in previous EP meetings we asked the executive support to kindly agree that the European Union delegation is also invited to attend and participate without vote in the deliberations of the meetings of its committees and subcommittees drafting groups or other subdivisions thereof in addressing matters falling within Union competence at this 152nd session version of the executive
009board thank you chair thank you Denmark if there are no further objections or comments I think the agenda is adopted it is adopted now so let us now turn to two matters related to the officers of the board first board members may recall that at eb-151 in May 2022 Mr German Escobar Morales of Colombia and Mr Kyrie of Malaysia were elected as Vice chairs from the region of the Americas and the region of the Western Pacific respectively since then I understand that Mr German Escobar Morales and Mr kairi yamuludin are no longer available to serve in these positions I understand that the region of the Americas and the region of the Western Pacific have consulted and proposed that Mr Jayme Hernan urigo Rodriguez Jaime I think Hermann Rego Rodriguez of Colombia and doctors aliha Mustafa
010of Malaysia be elected as wise chairs do I take that the board agrees with this proposal thank you I can see that you do agree additionally I would like to inform you that the region of Americas has brought to my attention a concern related to the lack of a formal mechanism to replace the officers of the executive board During the intercessional period should they be unable to complete their term pending a decision of the executive board given the need to ensure an informed and full discussion of this matter and taking into account the ongoing processes of existing reform I would propose that this matter be considered in that context at the next meeting of the EB without prejudice to the possibility for EB members to further discuss it at the next EB retreat may I
011take this approach as unacceptable to the board I can see that you are with me so um there is no objection to it and it is so decided then as you know EB 152 has a heavy agenda as I mentioned before with 47 items and sub items and more than 30 draft resolutions and decisions to be considered it is important that we hold the meeting in a constructive manner once again please post longer statements online and focus your oral interventions on The Guiding questions projected on the screen it is still possible to post your statements the longer ones online I encourage you EB members to limit your interventions to three minutes individual statements by all member states not represented on the board and Associate members will be limited to two minutes statements by observers invite
012representatives of un and other participating intergovernmental organizations and of non-state actors in official relations with who will be limited to one minute but also all of you can have your interventions posted Regional and group statements will be limited to four minutes I would also like to inform you that as a grid constituency statements by non-state actors in official relations will continue to be trialed during this meeting and will be provided on the following selected agenda items item 5 Universal Health Coverage reorienting Health Systems to Primary Healthcare as a resilient foundation for universal health coverage and preparations for a high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage item 12.1 strengthening who preparedness for and response to health emergencies strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness response and resilience item 14 well-being
013and health promotion and item 16 social determinants of Health constituency statements will be limited to three minutes and will be delivered after all EB members intermingled throughout the discussions when we move to the agenda items considered last week by the P Buck I proposed to build on the good work of the committee by focusing on discussion on the pivac report and its recommendations rather than having another full discussion of each of the document with the intention to ensure for all of us some rest every day I will be very strict with time limits and I ask you for your understanding may I take it that these proposals are acceptable is there any comment ah I see Germany Germany the floor is yours thank you chair for giving us this unusual opportunity to speak before ctg
014first of all we would like to congratulate you on your election Seb chair Germany would like to take the floor to express our confidence that your leadership Madam chair will provide a meaningful oversight by steering the debate we have discussed and we will be discussing during this EB many reform aspects in order to improve governance and to increase transparency efficiency and accountability we are confident that the guiding questions will allow a more interactive debate and in particular we provide high-level oversight and guidance to the Secretariat on member states expectations a conclusion of the main findings will allow us to follow up on how the Secretariat has been implementing our Commonwealth we look forward to productive and interactive discussions during the next days thank you very much thank you Germany thank you for supporting me if
015there are no other comments I think the methods of work have been decided let us now review the preliminary daily timetable contained in document eb-152 div Slash 2 it is proposed that the board meet each day from 10 to 13 and from 1430 to 1730. some items are proposed to be discussed at fixed times this morning following the conclusion of item 1 the board will consider item 2 report by the director general which will be followed by item 3 report of the regional committees to the executive board the boat will then turn to the first bullet under the item 12.1 strengthening who preparedness for and response to health emergencies strengthening the global architecture for health emergencies preparedness response and resilience information this afternoon at 14 30 the board will consider item 25.1 appointment of the
016regional director for the Americas the first session will be a private meeting a twitch a sec a secret ballot will be taken on the appointment of the regional director for the Americas upon confirmation the reading of the oath and signing of the relevant documents will take place in a public meeting thereafter consideration of this item will be suspended to permit the incoming Regional director to join the meeting in person in Geneva following this the board will return to the first bullet under item 12.1 strengthening who preparedness for and response for health emergencies to health emergencies strengthening Global architecture for health emergency preparedness response and resilience on Tuesday 31st of January at 10 the board will consider item four report of the program budget and administration Committee of the executive board followed by item 20 budget
017and finance matters including the discussion on sub item 20.1 financing and implementation of the program budget 2022-2023 and outlook on financing of the program budget 2024 2025 and sub item 20.2 proposed budget program budget 2024 2025 on Monday 6th of February at 10 the board will consider item 23.1 matters eminent emanating from the working group on sustainable financing including the discussion on the amsdg report and the Secretariat implementation plan on reform on Monday the same day 6th of February at 14 13 the board will return to submit to sub item 25.1 appointment of the regional director for the Americas any statements on this item would be taken at this time and Regional or group statements are encouraged this was originally programmed at 10 on 7th February but to accommodate a virtual link with pajo we
018are proposing to shift to the afternoon on Monday finally with respect to item 25.4 Human Resources I would like to inform you the document eb-152 slash 55 the Secretariat's report on the possible convocation of the special session of the executive board will be considered on Saturday 4th February at 10. exceptionally I propose that this matter be considered by the board in the restricting meeting restricted meeting in a corner dance with rule 7 C of the rules of procedure of the board and that the discussions be therefore confidential this reflects the sensitive nature of the subject matter as it is necessary to enable us to discuss this matter without compromising the Integrity of the related procedure to protect the confessionality confidentiality of the discussions I propose that attention attendance at the restricted meeting be limited to
019members of the board they are alternates and advisors one representative of each member State not represented on the board and of each Associated member as well as essential Secretariat staff only the meeting will not be open to observers intergovernmental organizations non-state actors and the public furthermore the meeting will not be broadcast on the who website and no official record of it will be made the outcome will be announced in a public meeting please note that because of the confidential nature of the annexed document eb-152-55 it is available only to member states it has been sent under confidential electronic cover to board members and the heads of member state delegations do I take it that the board agrees with these proposals foreign when delivering statements I would like to remind delegates to speak at the moderate
020speed that allows for its interpretation and ensures their message is conveyed clearly and accurately please send a copy of your written statements in advance to the email address interpret at who Point int this that this does not prevent you from making changes on delivery but will facilitate Clarity and accuracy in all languages foreign this concludes our consideration of agenda item one I think we are proceeding well let us now consider item 2 of our Agenda Report by the director General it is my pleasure to give you the floor director General you have the floor foreign no it's not just about eating your vegetables and growing taller it's about how the world's people came together to help us all live long and healthy lives making Amazing Discoveries like new medicines and vaccines guiding us to grow
021up how strong and happy keeping us safe from nasty diseases painful ones and daily ones and some horrible ones you've never heard of because they were completely wiped out the end of smallpox the Magnificent Chapel International collaboration I waited malaria vaccine is objective or sign has finally been declared free of wild polio virus was really a story of human perseverance Innovation commitment bringing communities together towards one unified goal this is a story about all of us because we all played a role and if we can keep working together we'll make more discoveries have more victories over diseases and help even more people be healthy and happy in the future [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you I think we should repeat that video maybe at the end of my speech it's a very nice one a very
022smart girl actually was not clear when it started so a rapid will be important um Dr Kristen Vesna Patrick chair of the executive board excellencies ministers sales of Delegation dear colleagues and Friends good morning to all of you and a very Happy New Year three years ago today I declared Public Health Emergency of international concern over the global spread of covet 19. the highest level of alarm under the international Health regulations and for the moment the only level of alarm as you know on Friday the emergency committee met to consider whether that remains the case the committee has advised me that in its view covid-19 remains a global Health Emergency and I agree as we enter the fourth year of the pandemic there is no doubt we're in a far better situation now than we
023have we were a year ago when the Omicron wave was at its peak but since the beginning of December weekly reported deserts have been rising in the past eight weeks more than 170 000 people have lost their lives to covet 19. and that's just the report it does we know the actual number is much higher we can't control the virus but we can do more to address the vulnerabilities in populations and Health Systems that means vaccinating 100 percent of the most at-risk groups it means increasing access to testing and early antiviral use it means taking contact specific measures when there is a surge in cases it means maintaining and expanding laboratory networks and it means fighting misinformation we remain hopeful that in the coming year the world will transition to a new phase in which
024we reduce hospitalizations and this to the lowest possible level and health systems are able to manage covid-19 in an integrated and sustainable way vaccination will remain an essential part of our approach we're now working to determine the most effective mechanism for advising member states and manufacturers on vaccine composition and vaccine frequency at the executive board last year I laid out five priorities for the coming five years as we work together to reinvigorate progress towards the 13th general program of work the triple billion targets and the health related sdgs those priorities have since crystallized into what we're calling the five piece promoting providing protecting powering and Performing for help I wish to be very clear that the five piece in no way replace the gpw or the triple billion targets which Remain the organization's guiding strategy
025rather the five PS are completely aligned with and contained within the gpw all we have done is to draw them out of the gpw and package them in a way that highlights the key priority priorities on which we as one who member states and the secretary together must Focus to accelerate towards the triple billion targets and the sdgs allow me to highlight some key achievements in 2022 against each of the five piece and by implication the triple billion targets first promoting help by addressing the root cause of disease which is essential for achieving our Target of seeing the 1 billion more people enjoying Better Health and well-being on Tobacco Control we reached our Target last year to support 100 million tobacco users to quit but there are still an estimated 600 million users who want
026to quit and need our support our transfer on trans fat we have seen an almost five-fold increase in the number of people protected by who recommended policies on the use of industrially produced trans fat from 550 million people to 2.6 billion in just four years but as you know still 5 billion are unprotected even if we protect 2.6 billion every year more and more countries either increase or introduce a new health tax for example with support from who timor-lester last year increased its tax tobacco five its tax on Tobacco fivefold increased tax on alcohol and introduced new taxes on sugar and sugary drinks on maternal and newborn care exclusive breastfeeding in infants under six months has increased from 38 percent 48 percent globally over the past 10 years bringing us very close to the Target
027of 50 percent by 2025. we also reviewed evidence from trials in 20 countries that showed for the first time that immediate skin to skin care or kangaroo mother care can save almost one third of children born preacher on our efforts to make the world's Road safer with who support and Leadership the UN General Assembly last year held its first high-level meeting on road safety we also supported many countries directly such as the adoption of new road safety legislation in Mexico and the development of a national road safety plan in Thailand two countries with some of the world's highest rates of Road fatalities in our work against the health impacts of climate change at cop 27 in Egypt we launched the alliance on transformative action on climate change and health which is supporting 63 countries to
028build climate resilient and sustainable Health Systems for example in Mozambique one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change who has strengthened the ministry of Health's capacity to monitor climate risks and impacts and to coordinate adaptation efforts on Aging we LED 12 country studies on the impact of aging on Revenue generation for health giving member states better data and policy recommendations and who standards for safe listening were adapted by Apple Huawei Samsung and Sony enabling billions of people to take action to prevent hearing loss the second priority is providing help by reorienting Health Systems towards Primary Health Care which is essential for reaching our Target to see one billion more people benefiting from Universal Health Coverage last year the special program on primary health care provided technical assistance to
029119 countries with in her hand in hand with ministries of Health to strengthen the foundations of Health Systems we continued supporting countries to strengthen their health Workforce which is the backbone of every Health System with International Partners we developed the global roadmap to invest in National Public Health Workforce capacity we have also added eight countries to the who Health Workforce support and safeguards list for a total of 55 countries that need additional protection against active International recruitment we launched the nursing and Midwifery Global community of practice with more than 6500 members from 180 countries and in the coming year we plan to launch a global campaign to provide access to basic emergency care training for 25 percent of nurses and midwives from 25 countries by 2025. on health financing based on who guidance 49 countries
030change policies to remove Financial barriers to Essential Health Services especially for covet 19. we continue to support member states to expand access to essential medicines which is a pillar of universal health coverage in 2022 who recognized regulatory systems in six member states China Egypt Nigeria the Republic of Korea Singapore and South Africa as having achieved maturity level three or four which means a stable well-functioning system or Advanced performance and we issued a major update to our guidelines for biosimilars making these complex medicines easier to evaluate for regulators and ultimately facilitating greater access for patients on antimicrobial resistance the tripartite officially became the quadri apartheid with the addition of the UN environment program who supported the development of new international targets to address the use of antimicrobials in humans animals and agriculture 127 countries are now
031Gathering data on antimicrobial resistance and consumption through the glass surveillance system and 170 countries have national action plans to guide multisexual response to AMR all of this work is helping to allevate suffering and save lives from all causes of death disease and injury last year we supported dozens of member states to restore Essential Health Services disrupted during the pandemic including for routine immunization where we saw the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccination in 30 years are the result 25 million children missed out on life-saving vaccinations and catching up is now one of our highest priorities for example with who support the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not just restored its routine immunization program to pre-pandemic levels it has increased coverage by five percent on non-communicable diseases we published a new guideline on hypertension and
032through the who Hearts technical package 7.5 million people in 31 countries have been correctly diagnosed and put on treatment we aim to double that number this year India for example won the UN award on primary care for its hypertension control initiative which by implementing the hearts package has put 3.5 million people on treatment since 2018. on diabetes member states adopted a set of global targets for the first time and on cancer we have supported 65 countries to improve access to Quality Care as part of the who Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer a 50 percent increase from 2021. this year we plan to provide medicines for all children with cancer in six countries with the goal of reaching 50 countries by 2027. last year wh also supported multiple countries to develop national plans for cervical cancer
033elimination including Maldives Rwanda Sri Lanka and more we're also making very encouraging progress on Mental Health The Who special Initiative for mental health has now been implemented in nine countries expanding access to Mental Health Services for more than 5 million people in Argentina Bangladesh Ghana Jordan Nepal Philippines Paraguay Ukraine and Zimbabwe on communicable diseases the covid-19 pandemic was a severe setback but in the past year we have been encouraging we have seen encouraging signs on malaria after increasing in 2020 the number of annual days appears to have stabilized and cases increased at a slower rate meanwhile the world's first malaria vaccine rtss is saving lives in Ghana Kenya and Malawi where more than 1.2 million children have now received the vaccine we see a substantial decrease in hospitalizations for severe malaria and more than 10
034percent drop in child does following who's recommendation for widespread use of the vaccine at least 28 more countries in Africa are planning to introduce it starting this year on tuberculosis based on who recommendations published last year 109 countries are now using the first fully oral treatment regions for multi-drug resistance TB realizing our vision for ending TB we require new vaccines the only vaccines we have BCG is 100 years old and does not adequately protect adults and adolescents more than 16 candidate vaccines are in clinical development and just two weeks ago we established a ministerial level TB vaccine acceleration Council to bring new vaccines to people as quickly as possible on HIV last year we published new guidelines on the use of long-acting injectables for preventing HIV a potential game changer for those most at risk
035so far four countries have approved the use of long-acting injectables and 10 10 are conducting implementation studies the medicines patent pool has negotiated a voluntary license and soon at least three generic manufacturers will start production and every year more countries eliminate more diseases as we Mark worldlid entity until the day today we can be proud that in 2022 eight countries were validated or certified for eliminating a neglected tropical disease DRC Equatorial Guinea Malawi Rwanda Saudi Arabia Togo Uganda and Vanuatu Egypt also eliminated missiles and rubella and Oman eliminated mother to child transmission of HIV and syphilis the third priority is to protect Health by strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness response and resilience in 2022 who responded to 72 graded emergencies across all regions including three Public Health emergencies of international concern outbreaks
036of Ebola and cholera conflicts in Ethiopia Syria Ukraine and Yemen and humanitarian crisis in the greater Horn of Africa and much more thanks to the generosity of donors to the contingency fund for emergencies we were able to release more than 87 million US Dollars immediately to support rapid response and we delivered Essential Health supplies to 90 countries from our Dubai Logistics Hub in the United Arab Emirates last year we also launched the first Consolidated who Global Health Emergency appeal and just last week we launched this year's appeal for 2.5 billion US dollars of course who does not act alone in 2022 we worked with thousands of Partners through the health cluster Gorn Emergency Medical Teams and more we continue to work with Partners in building a rapidly Deployable Health Emergency core for future health emergencies
037we continue to support countries to respond to the covid-19 pandemic with up-to-date technical guidance training and support for health workers convening experts to advance science and much more through our Partnerships in the ACT accelerator and Kovacs we supported the provision of more than one billion vaccines and procured 320 000 courses of antivirals the number of countries with less than 10 percent of vaccination coverage reduced from 34 at the beginning of last year to nine averaging thousands of hospitalizations and this is in July I declared a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of empox in total more than 85 000 cases and 86 deaths have been reported to who from 110 countries the number of weekly reported cases of ampox has now declined significantly although 36 countries in all six regions continue
038to support to report continue to report new cases in September the government of Uganda declared an ebola outbreak working with many partners we supported the government to respond to respond to and extinguish the outbreak during the outbreak whs are in the blueprint for epidemics working with the Ministry of Health and Ugandan researchers coordinated a global Coalition of Partners to accelerate the availability of investigational dose of three candidate vaccines and Rapid preparation for the integration of vaccine research in the response last year also so an act an unprecedented number of Cholera outbreaks reported in 30 countries with a massive increase in the number of people with affected countries who are now at risk in response who supported large-scale vaccination campaigns and provided cholera kids to treat more than 500 000 people in Haiti one of the
039worst affected countries w.h opaho has delivered more than one million doses of oral cholera vaccines and almost three quarters of those eligible have received one growth we have now raised the global cholera crisis to grade 3 emergency the highest level in our internal grading system due to the high case fatality the potential for further spread and severe limitations in vaccine Supply on polio eradication after an all-time low of just five wild polio virus cases in 2021 we saw an increase last year with 20 cases in Pakistan two in Afghanistan and eight in Mozambique however no cases of wild poliovirus have been reported since early September last year in addition last year three million children previously inaccessible in Afghanistan received polio vaccines for the first time and in October donors pledged 2.6 billionaires dollars to support
040the work of who and our partners to consign polio to history at the same time as part of the polio transition we have integrated polio Assets in more than 50 countries to support immunization disease detection and emergency response as you know last year the Secretariat reviewed more than 300 recommendations from multiple reviews on the future of preparedness and response to pandemics and other health emergencies based on that analysis we made 10 key proposals for strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness response and resilience this includes actions for stronger governance stronger financing stronger systems and tools and a stronger who the framework will enable us to converge and align the many different activities and initiatives that member states multilateral agencies and others are undertaking this is especially critical as member states begin negotiations on a
041zero draft of a legally binding pandemic Accord in addition to ongoing discussions on amendments to the international Health regulations in November under the leadership of Indonesia's G20 presidency a new pandemic fund was established at the World Bank with who playing a central role including as chair of the technical advisory panel the who have for pandemic and epidemic intelligence is now fully operational and last year engaged with almost 250 institutions around the world to Foster collaborative surveillance and intelligence and four countries have now completed the pilot phase of the Universal Health and preparedness review Central African Republic Iraq Portugal and Thailand we're also now convening a process to create an end-to-end platform for Equitable access to Medical counter measures building on the lessons from the ACT accelerator the P framework and other mechanisms the fourth and
042fifth priorities are enablers of the first three and the triple billion targets the force is to power Health by harnessing research Innovation data digital Technologies and Partnerships on Research we established a grant program for young researchers from low and middle-income countries on ncds eight were chosen from Cameroon China Egypt Ethiopia India Peru and Uganda we also created a behavioral science unit which has run training in four regions provided technical assistance for pilot projects in several countries and contributed to our work on AMR and nutrition on Innovation the Mr and Ahab in South Africa started transferring technology to manufacturers in 15 countries and the biomedical training in Korea and we launched a mobile app developed for health workers in humanitarian emergencies to improve delivery of who child health recommendations on data we complete the beta version
043of the World Health Data Hub providing a single source for publishing Health Data addressing the fragmentation problems we had the data Hub will be made publicly available this year and 76 countries are now actively implementing the 11th edition of the international classification of this is providing better data to support better policy decisions on digital Health with support from who more than 120 member states have developed National digital health strategies to guide their health system transformation we have provided training for 600 Health leaders in 103 countries on digital Health strategy governance and implementation and our leadership led to a global consensus on a technical interoperability standard for covid-19 certificates which are now in use by over 120 countries enabling over 3 billion people to use digitally augmented vaccine and test results on Partnerships last year we
044held Civil Society dialogues on climate and health and pox uhpr TB sexual misconduct and more and working to establish the Civil Society commission before the assembly we engaged with parliaments and the private sector and just this weekend we held the first meeting of the who youth Council yesterday the delegates briefed me on their proposals to accelerate progress on UHC and cities mental health and youth leadership and I would like to join our chair Dr petrich to encourage all member states to all member states to meet our our youth there in in in the compound at least for today if there are issues you would like to discuss but at the same time we ask you to include youth representatives in your delegations to the World Health assembly and also we expect gender parity also of
045the delegation to the assembly and our partnership with Qatar and FIFA enabled us to reach billions of people globally with messages about physical activity and more during the World Cup in November in Qatar and that's the first time and learned a lot and the successful one the fifth and final priorities to perform for Help by building a stronger who that delivers results and is enabled and empowered to play its leading role in global health as member states you look to us to provide world-class evidence-based Norm standards research data and Technical and Operational Support and that's what we're doing last year we produced 213 Global Public Health Goods including key reports and guidelines on artificial intelligence disabilities marketing of milk formula products oral health physical activity priority pathogens refuges and migrant Health safe abortion and much
046more in addition The Who science Council published its first report on accelerating access to genomics for Global health through our open who learning platform 7.5 million Learners from all member states accessed 190 courses in 67 languages openwho will be an important part of the new who Academy which will play a key role in building the capacity of the global Health Workforce including who's own staff we have now finalized an updated business model for the Academy and are developing a catalog of courses that respond to Major Global health challenges and the needs of health workers with the strong with the strong support of France and other member states the academy is mobilizing new resources to ensure its sustainable financing and we expect the Academy campus Hub in Leon to open its doors in September 2024. we're
047committed not only to building and even more experienced qualified and talented wh Workforce but also to creating a workplace that allows our people to be and do their best for a decade who has given special attention to fostering a workplace where all staff are respected enabled and protected through the respectful workplace initiative and related efforts on diversity equity and inclusion mental health at work flexible working arrangements and more from 2023 this initiative will transform into a dedicated program with fixed staff and resources to focus on sustained cultural change recognizing that Talent is universal but opportunity is not we also launched the young professional we're launching the young professional program to give Junior professionals from least developed countries the opportunity to work with who for two years then take the experience they have gained back to
048their countries the first round has been completed with 14 young professionals recruited from Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Chad Sudan Madagascar Malawi Myanmar Nepal Senegal Sierra Leone Tanzania Uganda and Zambia this program started in partnership with Buffett Foundation like to thank perfect foundation and professors tonight is with us today and I believe this program if expanded will be a game changer that helps especially the low-income countries to build capacity and we will take more young professionals to have a stay with us for at least two years to build capacity and back home to better serve their countries last year we also took strong action on mainstreaming gender in our work by developing an internal policy and strategy updating our gender parity policy and championing gender equality human rights and Equity both internally and externally programs such as
049polio and health emergencies now have specific programmatic strategies to promote gender equality which are strengthening our country oppressions and for the first time in who history we have reached overall gender parity for staff across all appointment types and categories of positions as you know 2022 was a landmark year for our work for our organization with the agreement by member states to increase access contribution to 50 percent of the base budget over the next decade the program budget for the next biennium which you will consider this week includes the first increase in assets contributions if approved of 200 million US dollars this is also the program widget in which country office will be allocated more than half of the total budget of the biennium strengthening our country offices is a key priority for the past three
050weeks a six country Representatives have been working to develop a hundred day plan of action in seven critical areas including core presence in country offices rotation and Mobility adequate and predictable financing delegation of authority and and more some of these actions are already underway through the transformation and others will be implemented immediately after the plan of action is finalized and agreed to support this initiative in the coming year we will be working closely with with 45 country offices using a delivery for impact approach to focus on the highest priority highest impact interventions as a complement to the increase in the assets contributions the Secretariat is also proposing a new replenishment process which will which we will submit to member states for consideration we recognize that with increased flexibility and sustainability comes increased expectations for transparency
051efficiency compliance and accountability meaning all this leading to result as you know we have made progress on preventing and responding to sexual misconduct and I will have more to say about our ongoing work in this area when we address the agenda item I thank the agile member State Tax Group for its recommendations which we have been Incorporated which have been Incorporated into the monitoring mechanism to track progress on the Secretariat's implementation plan on reform the implementation plan contains 98 actions 38 of which have already been completed we will continue to implement the remaining actions and we look forward to the board's support and continued oversight we appreciate as you do the delicate balance between the governance role of member states and the management responsibilities of the Secretariat we all want a who that's agile proactive
052and able to move quickly to respond to Global Health threats the Secretariat is committed to implementing the priorities and plans of member states as agreed at the World Health assembly in turn we ask member states to give the Secretariat the necessary latitude to carry out our mandate to achieve those priorities and plans excellencies I have tried to give you a test of the huge scale and scope of work that your organization does and that your agenda this week reflects but it's only a test I have barely scratched the surface it's impossible to do justice to the work we are doing around the world and none of it is possible without the people who make who what it is I do not have the words to express my gratitude admiration and respect for my colleagues staff
053Consultants contractors jpos and interns g-stuff peace staff which I don't like the division directors as some director generals executive directors and regional directors from the front lines to the back office in mega cities and remote Islands working on the big picture and the small details as you know this year marks our organization's 75th anniversary this anniversary belongs to all of us to every member state and to every member of staff this is our opportunity to tell our story and imagine our future accordingly I have asked every country and regional office to design a localized campaign to celebrate who's achievements in every corner of the world we have a lot to be proud of over the past 75 years but it's not the past 75 years that matters it's the next 75. not the past five
054years but the next five not yesterday but tomorrow we look back with pride so that we can look forward with hope we learned the lessons of the past so we can apply them in the future thank you for your confidence and Trust we are proud to be who proud to be your who I thank you maybe if we can have the video user permission Madame chair it's a very short one [Music] since 1948 thanks to the diversity and the commitment of its 194 member states the World Health Organization has had a profound impact on improving the health of human beings around the world [Applause] the collective work of who member states has led to the eradication of smallpox the framework convention on Tobacco it helps with the phones headphones adopted [Applause] the international Health regulations
055a and the decision to establish an intergovernmental negotiating body to develop an instrument for pandemic prevention preparedness and response so how do member states work together to achieve tangible results the World Health assembly or wha is the decision-making body of who and is comprised of its member states and Associate members in May all delegates come together to lead the way they agree on who policies approve its budget and priorities and every five years they appoint the director general of who appoints Dr tedrosis as director general of the World Health Organization [Applause] the executive board also known as the EB acts as an executive body to prepare and support the work of the wha the wha and the EB adopt resolutions which offer the collective recommendations of the member states how did who member States respond
056to the disruption and tragedy of the covid-19 pandemic with nearly triple the number of intergovernmental processes to work through member states worked day and night making vital decisions that would improve the lives of billions strengthening preparedness and response to health emergencies became an urgent need who member states have worked tirelessly towards a pandemic instrument as well as filling gaps from the international Health regulations of 2005. finally they decided to strengthen who's governance and financing to better serve those who need it most the dedication of who delegates to the advancement of human health is remarkable finding common ground between the visions of 194 member states as they continue across Generations geographies time zones cultures and languages [Music] happy 75th anniversary to the World Health Organization we member states and the Secretariat make our organization strong [Music]
057thank you Dr Tedros thank for thank you for such an extra excellent report uh I think we are all impressed and actually I think we are all impressed what has been done not only by Secretariat but by all of us member states Partners together it's really important to understand the strength of this uh also thank you very much for paying so much attention to the young people they are our fruit future we all know but they are also the ones that can think out of the box uh being so innocent still and I think we should consider them as a very important partner and thank you I have to say this since I'm a woman to pay so much attention to women as well thank you very much I think that we now can open
058the floor for discussions and kindly please raise your nameplate should you wish to take the floor okay I see Denmark Denmark the floor is yours thank you very much Madam chair director General fellow members of