countries are joining the voices for better preparedness for emergencies

COVID-19 will not be the last health emergency in the world, and there is an urgent need for sustainable preparedness for emergency health problems to address the next.

This was a strong feeling shared by the participants of the accompanying event of the United Nations General Assembly on “Sustainable preparedness for health security and resilience: adopting a society-wide approach and breaking the cycle of panic and forget.” High-level virtual event with the World Health Organization. WHO) hosted Finland, France and Indonesia.

Past crises have shown that once governments are under surveillance, governments and donors are turning their attention to other urgent issues. This cycle of “panic so forget” has prevented the development of effective health preparedness for emergencies around the world. The world must break this cycle once and for all.

This world has crossed a dark turning point with more than a million lives lost since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are still expected to die from unprecedented health system disruptions.

“Over the years, we have had many reports, reviews and recommendations that said the same thing: the world is not ready for a pandemic. COVID-19 has revealed the truth: when the time came, the world was still not ready, ”said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, in his introductory address. He called for investment in preparedness, with the access of all government and society as a whole. “This will not be the last pandemic, nor the last global health emergency. But with the right political and financial investment, we can now improve health security, prevent and mitigate future pandemics, and protect our future and the future of generations to come, ”he said.

Countries spoke of their commitment to emergency preparedness. “We know that readiness makes economic sense and we have developed tools and models for cross-sectoral cooperation. Learning from the pandemic and building on previous progress should guide our steps to strengthen health security and thus help achieve the goals of sustainable development, ”said Päivi Sillanaukee, Ambassador for Health and Welfare, Republic of Finland.

“There is an urgent need to leverage the response to COVID-19 to build, maintain and strengthen sustainable public health capacities for emergency preparedness […] France firmly believes that readiness deserves to be put much more on the foreign policy agenda and we are ready to encourage cooperation between Member States to ensure continued visibility of this topic, whether here in Geneva or at the UNGA in New York, ”said Stéphanie Seydoux. Ambassador for Global Health, French Republic.

Emergency preparedness is part of a broader vision of health for all. In her speech, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi reminded participants that “the investment we must now make at the national level is to ensure affordable health care for all. Let’s ask ourselves, how many times have we heard of people denying themselves much-needed health care because of the costs …. The issue of affordable health care for all is at the heart of Indonesia’s presidency of foreign policy and global health initiatives. “

The experiences of their countries with COVID-19 were also shared by the health ministers of the Netherlands, Oman, Senegal and Singapore. The coordinator of the Group of African Ambassadors in Geneva and the Deputy German Director General, Federal Office for Foreign Affairs, also spoke on this issue. The debate was chaired by Indonesian Ambassador Hasan Kleib in Geneva.

The role of community empowerment was emphasized by the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Mr. Francesco Rocca. He said his organization had learned from working with a network of responsible people in 192 countries that there was an urgent need to invest in community-based preparedness to “promote humanitarian action as local as possible. […] We call on governments, partners and donors to invest in community-level preparedness to save lives and alleviate suffering in the next inevitable emergency. ”

The role of parliaments and the importance of a multi-sectoral approach was emphasized by the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mr Martin Chungong. The International Association of National Institutes of Public Health and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation have emphasized the important role of partner organizations in the country and global preparedness and funding.

Mr. Sami Kanaan, Mayor of Geneva, emphasized the approach of the whole society. “Local governments must not only be provided with the means to implement policies. They also need to be involved in international discussions that ultimately shape solutions to humanity’s most pressing challenges, ”he said.

Closing the event, Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Health Emergency Program, acknowledged the participants ’comments and requested that they be held with dedicated readiness. “We can’t, we can’t, we mustn’t let the world forget because the next one might be nothing but the worst one,” he said. “This (COVID-19) can only be a harbinger of what may come, we live with too much risk.”

This event marked a crucial dialogue among countries, donors and partners to build better opportunities for future emergency preparedness during the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. He comes after the heels of dismissal report by the Committee on Global Readiness and Oversight which also called for urgent action in this area.

According to the report, investments in standby would cost only $ 5 per person per year, while the cost of this pandemic is already over $ 11 trillion and is calculated.