G20 health ministers support WHO' leading role in fight against COVID-19

 

Health Ministers of Group of 20 (G20) have highlighted the need to further coordinate efforts and to support the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in combatting COVID-19.

 

A virtual meeting on 19 April, hosted by Saudi Arabia, convened health leaders of G20 members and other invited countries, as well as officials from international and regional organizations including the WHO and the World Bank Group.

 

SUPPORT FOR WHO

During the meeting, G20 health ministers voiced their support for the WHO in playing a leading role in coordinating global efforts against the novel coronavirus.

 

Ma Xiaowei, minister in charge of China’s National Health Commission, said China is willing to implement the consensus reached at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit in late March, and calls on all parties to continue supporting the WHO’s leading role in coordinating international cooperation against COVID-19.

 

He also called for international cooperation in carrying out joint prevention and control in the fight against the pandemic.

 

“Today, the exchange of national practices to overcome all the negative consequences of COVID-19 is very important. And in this situation, the leading role of the WHO is important,” Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said.

 

Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu also expressed her hope that under the leadership of the WHO, countries can form joint efforts to unleash power that no single country can achieve alone, adding that they need to make sure that no nation falls behind.

 

Speaking at the virtual meeting from Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the health ministers that the WHO “has sounded the alarm bell loud and clear” since the beginning. His remarks came after the United States announced a decision to halt the nation’s funding to the WHO, which President Donald Trump accused of “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”

 

On the pandemic battle, Tedros said, “We are encouraged that several G20 countries are now starting to plan how to ease social restrictions. It is critical that these measures are a phased process.”

 

Currently, the pandemic is showing more encouraging signs of abating on the European continent, with a continuous drop in the daily numbers of new deaths and new infections.

 

In the United States, a debate is ongoing about whether it is time for governors to lift stay-at-home orders, as Trump has unveiled guidelines for a phased reopening of the U.S. economy.

 

Lifting lockdown restrictions is not the end of the pandemic, but just the beginning of its next phase, Tedros told the health ministers, adding it is vital in this next phase that countries educate, engage and empower their people to prevent and respond rapidly to any resurgence.

 

The WHO is committed to leading the work requested by the G20 leaders, in cooperation with its partners, to assess gaps in global preparedness, and lay the foundations for a healthier, safer, fairer world, Tedros said.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of a simple truth: We are one humanity. We share the same planet. We share the same hopes and dreams. We share the same destiny,” the WHO chief said.

 

IMPROVE HEALTH SYSTEMS

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed systemic weaknesses in health systems, and has shown vulnerabilities in the global community's ability to prevent and respond to pandemic threats, the health ministers noted during the virtual meeting.

 

They addressed the need to improve the effectiveness of global health systems by sharing knowledge and closing the gap in response capabilities and readiness, according to the meeting’s news release.

 

The G20 health ministers also shared their respective countries’ experiences and preventative measures in containing the pandemic.

 

Ma, briefing his colleagues, said that after three months of hard work, the domestic transmission in China has basically been curbed, with more people resuming normal life and returning to work.

 

“We have been continually improving our prevention, control and treatment work and sharing our experience with the world,” he said.

 

His view was shared by Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who stressed the need to establish a joint prevention and control method, to make the world prepared for any possible future incidents.

 

Speranza also suggested promoting cooperation in clinical trials, research, medical treatment and other areas.

 

Murashko singled out the global issue of access to and provision of medical products, including regulatory mechanisms and quality control procedures, stressing the need to improve global response mechanisms.

 

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of making coordination a priority.

 

The meeting also addressed the importance of utilizing digital solutions in pandemics, and the emphasis on patient safety, among other issues.

 

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND

The ministers echoed G20 leaders’ concerns over the risks posed by the pandemic to developing and less-developed countries, where health systems and economies may be less able to cope with such challenges.

 

The WHO is deeply concerned that the virus now appears to be gathering pace in countries that lack the capacity of many G20 countries to respond to it, Tedros told the health ministers.

 

“Urgent support is needed, not only to support countries to respond to COVID-19, but to ensure other essential health services continue,” he said.

 

In his address to the Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit in late March, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that a G20 health ministers’ meeting be convened as soon as possible to improve information sharing, strengthen cooperation on drugs, vaccines and epidemic control, and cut off cross-border infections.

 

Xi also proposed a G20 COVID-19 assistance initiative for better information sharing and policy and action coordination with the support of the WHO.

 

Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has been more than ready to share its good practices and provide assistance in its capacity to countries hit by the pandemic, Xi said.

 

So far, the Chinese government has provided or is providing supplies to 127 countries and four international organizations and has sent expert teams to 15 countries, according to Ma, who also urged the health ministers to boost joint efforts to provide help to countries with vulnerable health systems.

 

Saudi Arabia, which holds the presidency of the G20 this year, announced a 500-million-U.S. dollar donation to relevant international organizations to support global efforts in combating COVID-19.

 

 

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Source: Xinhua (www.xinhuanet.com)