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WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing

22 February 2023

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,

As the search and rescue in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic was drawing to a close, two further earthquakes on Monday in Türkiye brought more pain to the region.

While they were less powerful than the earthquakes earlier in the month, a number of people lost their lives, hundreds were injured, and fear - understandably - swept across the general population.

Currently, the overall death toll is more than 47,000, and 125,000 have been injured.

In Türkiye, at least 15 hospitals have been damaged with many health facilities affected.

Across the Syrian Arab Republic, seven hospitals and 145 health facilities have been damaged. Many of these are in the north-west, which has been ravaged by war for more than a decade and is therefore more vulnerable to shocks like this.

With 26 million people affected by the earthquake, WHO launched a flash appeal for US$ 84.5 million to support the immediate health response efforts in both countries.

WHO calls on the global community to support the response and provide hope to those who are grieving, traumatized and fearful about the future.

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This week marks one year since the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine.

The health consequences of this war have been devastating.

Since the beginning of the conflict, WHO has verified 802 attacks on health care, which have resulted in 101 deaths of health workers and patients.

The war is exacerbating health needs, including for mental health and psychosocial support; rehabilitation; treatment for chronic diseases and others such as cancer, HIV and tuberculosis; and vaccinations for measles, polio and pneumonia and COVID-19.

These gaps are a risk to health today, and for the future.

WHO is working closely with partners in Ukraine and has reached 8.4 million people with health interventions.

WHO has delivered nearly 3000 metric tonnes of life saving medical supplies including ambulances, generators, medicines for chronic diseases and trauma and surgery emergency supplies to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

To support our work, WHO has appealed for US$ 240 million to reach 11.4 million people with health assistance in Ukraine and refugee receiving countries.

The conflict is affecting health not just in Ukraine but around the world, with millions of people impacted by spiking food prices, especially in low-income countries.

As always, we need health for peace, and peace for health.

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Finally, on COVID-19, new research adds to the weight of evidence about the benefits of vaccination and boosting.

As well as dramatically reducing the chances of severe disease and death, the research reinforces that vaccination and boosting also reduce the likelihood of patients with COVID-19 from having a heart attack or stroke.

I emphasize these findings because it underlines once again why governments should continue to vaccinate and boost their populations – especially the most at-risk groups, including older people and health workers.

It is also critical that governments maintain and strengthen surveillance and sequencing so that as the virus evolves, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics can be evaluated and updated quickly as needed.

This week, WHO’s Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 Vaccine Composition emphasized the need for continued surveillance to guide the composition of vaccines, and to assess their effectiveness.

While the world is collectively in a better position than it was three years ago, this virus should not be underestimated.

It’s therefore important to invest in research in order to develop vaccines that can provide broader protection and also reduce transmission.

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Earthquakes, conflict and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic all reinforce the fragility the world faces, and the need to strengthen our collective defenses against health emergencies.

This week, WHO Member States are hosting discussions on amendments to the International Health Regulations.

Next week, countries will begin negotiations on a “zero draft” of the new pandemic accord.

These discussions will be crucial for building a more effective health security architecture for the future, grounded in international law, equity and the fundamental right to health for all people.

At the Munich Security Conference last Friday, I said that right now, the world remains unprepared for another pandemic.

While leaders have many other crises to deal with, attention on future epidemic and pandemic threats must remain or we will pay a heavy price.

No crisis happens in isolation.

In a world of converging and overlapping crises, we need a shared, coherent and equitable global approach to shared, global health threats.

Christian, back to you.

LINKS: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 22 February 2023

AUDIO FILE: https://terrance.who.int/mediacentre/presser/WHO-AUDIO_Emergencies_Press_Conference_22FEB2023.mp3

Full VIDEO file: https://who.canto.global/b/UU4K4

Earthquake in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic (who.int)

EURO site: Türkiye and Syria earthquakes (who.int)

EMRO site: WHO EMRO | EMRO home page | Landing | Front page

Ukraine: Ukraine emergency (who.int)

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