[Title] WHO Director-General's remarks at G7 Leaders Summit – 27 June 2022

Chancellor Scholz,

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

Deaths from COVID-19 are thankfully declining. But this pandemic is not finished.

And at the same time, we face war, famine, and the growing threat of climate change.

These concurrent crises are disrupting health systems, weakening populations, and creating fertile ground for new disease outbreaks.

We must learn the lessons of this pandemic.

Shared threats require a shared response. The commitments made in this summit on climate, health, food security, and violent conflict come at a critical time.

The G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness, with its support for collective surveillance, predictable rapid response, and prompt, equitable access to life-saving tools, will help further the goals of the international accord or treaty on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

This accord, now being negotiated, frames the recommendations in WHO’s proposal for the new global health architecture, which is built on the pillars of:

Coherent, inclusive and accountable governance;

Systems and tools to prevent, detect and respond rapidly to health emergencies;

Stronger domestic and international health financing;

And an empowered WHO, as the world’s leading public health agency, that can respond promptly to emergencies.

Along with COVID, other global crises keep coming. With the imminent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, WHO pre-positioned supplies, so we were the first humanitarian organization to reach Kyiv with new medical supplies.

We delivered nearly 600 metric tonnes of supplies to the hardest hit areas, including 20 ambulances, and hospital generators.

In closing, I will leave you with five priorities:

First, that the new Financial Intermediary Fund be sustainably funded, with WHO playing a central role;

Second, I urge you to fully support the new legally-binding accord on pandemic preparedness;

Third, to support local production for medicines, tests and vaccines for COVID, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, NCDs, and other diseases. Local production is critical for equitable access to life-saving tools.

Fourth, to meet the Paris goals for climate and clean energy. This could help to cut seven million preventable deaths from pollution every year.

And fifth, to fully fund the Global Appeal for Health Emergency Response operations, which includes Ukraine and other crises, and to end the pandemic.

In closing, my thanks to our hosts, Chancellor Scholz and all G7 members for your leadership in these difficult times, where major crises have converged.

As the song said, today is difficult, but tomorrow there will be sunshine.

I thank you.