WHO addresses European Parliament on COVID-19 response
Full recording of the event - Copyright: © European Union, 2020
On 25 June, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge spoke to the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) about the global response to COVID-19. They highlighted the leadership of the European Union (EU) at this unprecedented time and responded to questions from Members of the European Parliament.
“The EU is in a unique position to provide global leadership in defining the ‘new normal’ as part of the global recovery,” Dr Tedros said, though he cautioned parliamentarians that the situation “globally is still getting worse.”
He added, “In the first month of this outbreak, less than 10 000 cases were reported to WHO. In the last month, almost 4 million cases have been reported. We expect to reach a total of 10 million cases and 500 000 deaths within this week.”
The pandemic is showing how essential it is for governments at all levels, including the local level, to strengthen their capacity for prevention, preparedness and response. But plans to recover from COVID-19 and reduce the risk of future epidemics must go further upstream than early detection and control of disease outbreaks. “They must also lessen our impact on the environment, to reduce risk at the source,” Dr Tedros stressed.
In this regard, Dr Tedros welcomed the Team Europe approach. This is the EU’s effort to combine all of its external actions to help partners overcome the coronavirus crisis in a greener recovery that brings nature back in our lives.
Dr Tedros also praised the Global Coronavirus Response pledging campaign launched by the EU, which has so far raised € 9.8 billion, but said more is needed.
European Programme of Work and EU4Health
Dr Kluge emphasized how the European Programme of Work “United action for better health” supports WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13) and the EU4Health programme of the European Commission.
Dr Kluge also warned parliamentarians about a possible resurgence of the virus in Europe, underlining that countries must remain vigilant and continue to prepare. In this regard, he announced that the WHO European Region has started an action review, gathering lessons learned in order to develop policy options to help countries to prepare for the autumn.
Reflecting on lessons learned from the pandemic, the Regional Director underlined that “health systems based on strong primary health care are the foundation for health security and universal health coverage”.
