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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO
As people around the world celebrated the New Year 12 months ago, a new global threat arose.
Since that time, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed so many lives and caused massive disruption to families, societies and economies around the world.
But it also sparked the fastest and broadest response to a global health emergency in human history.
The characteristics of this response have been an unprecedented mobilization of science, a search for solutions and a commitment to global solidarity.
Acts of generosity, big and small, have equipped hospitals with the tools health workers need to stay safe and care for their patients.
Outpourings of kindness have helped the most vulnerable in society through troubled times.
Vaccines, therapies and diagnostics have been developed and deployed, at record speed, thanks to collaborations including the COVID-19 Tool Accelerator.
Equity is the essence of the ACT Accelerator and its vaccine arm, COVAX, which has gained access to 2 billion doses of promising vaccine candidates.
Vaccines offer great hope for turning the tide of the pandemic.
But to protect the world, we need to make sure that everyone at risk everywhere – and not just in countries that can afford to get vaccinated – are vaccinated.
To do this, COVAX urgently needs just over $ 4 billion to purchase vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.
This is the challenge we face in the New Year.
My brothers and sisters, the events of 2020 have provided eye-opening lessons and reminders for all of us to take in 2021.
First and foremost, 2020 has shown that governments need to increase investments in public health, from funding access to COVID vaccines for all, to improving the readiness of our systems to prevent and respond to the next inevitable pandemic.
At the heart of this is investing in universal health coverage to make health for all a reality.
Second, since it will take time to vaccinate everyone against COVID, we must continue to adhere to proven measures that keep all of us safe.
This means maintaining physical distance, wearing face masks, practicing hand and respiratory hygiene, avoiding congested areas indoors, and meeting people outdoors.
These simple but effective measures will save lives and reduce the suffering that so many people endured in 2020.
Third, and above all, we must commit to working together in solidarity, as a global community, to promote and protect health now and in the future.
We have seen how political and community divisions feed the virus and instigate the crisis.
But collaboration and partnership save lives and safeguard companies.
In 2020, a health crisis of historic proportions has shown us how closely linked we are all.
We have seen how acts of kindness and care have helped neighbors through times of great struggle.
But we’ve also seen how malicious acts and disinformation have caused preventable damage.
From 2021, we have a simple but profound choice to make:
Are we ignoring the lessons of 2020 and allowing island and partisan approaches, conspiracy theories and attacks on science to prevail, causing unnecessary suffering to the health of people and society in general?
Or are we doing the last miles of this crisis together, helping each other along the way, from equitably sharing vaccines to providing accurate counseling, compassion and care to all who need it, as a global family.
The choice is easy.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, and we’ll get there by walking the path together.
WHO is with you – We are family and we are together.
I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful, safe and healthy New Year.
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