In another blow, the pandemic threatens to
set back hard-won global health progress achieved over the past two decades -
in fighting infectious diseases, for example, and improving maternal and child
health.
So in 2021, countries around the world will
need to continue battle COVID-19 (albeit with the knowledge that effective
tools are evolving). They will need to move swiftly to repair and reinforce
their health systems so they can deliver these tools, and to address the key
societal and environmental issues that result in some sections of the
population suffering so much more than others.
WHO and its partners will be at their side.
We will work to help countries strengthen preparedness for pandemics and other
emergencies. We will remind them of the importance of bringing countries
together and of involving the whole government, not just the health sector. And
we will support them in building strong health systems and healthy populations
Here are 10 ways we will do this:
Build global solidarity for worldwide health
security
WHO will work with countries to improve their
own preparedness for pandemics and health emergencies. But for this to be
effective, we will ensure that countries work together. Above all, this
pandemic has shown us over and again, that no one is safe until everyone is
safe.
We will also help tackle health emergencies
in humanitarian settings that have been intensified by COVID-19. We will target
support to better protect the most vulnerable communities against health
emergency risks, including in urban settings, small island countries, conflict
settings.
We will leverage existing partnerships and
create new ones to build a global health emergencies workforce to expand, train
and standardize high-quality public health and medical assistance. We also plan
to establish a Bio Bank – a globally agreed system for sharing pathogen
materials and clinical samples to facilitate the rapid development of safe and
effective vaccines and medicines. And we will sustain our focus on getting
accurate information to people, building on our work with.
2.
Speed up access to COVID-19 tests, medicines
and vaccines
A top priority in 2021 will be to continue
our work across the four pillars of the ACT-Accelerator, to achieve equitable
access to safe and effective vaccines, tests, and treatments and to ensure that
health systems are strong enough to deliver them. Getting effective tools to
everyone who needs them will be key to ending this first, acute phase of the
pandemic, and to solve the health and economic crises it has caused.
3.
Advance health for all
One of the clearest lessons the pandemic has
taught us is the consequences of neglecting our health systems. In 2021 WHO
will work across all three levels of the Organization and with partners
worldwide to help countries strengthen systems so that they can respond to
COVID-19 and deliver all the essential health services required to keep people
of all ages healthy – close to home and without falling into poverty.
Two important initiatives will underpin this
work: the implementation and roll-out of WHO’s new primary health care
programme in countries and the UHC compendium - a tool to help countries
identify the essential health services they need -- for example to ensure that
women can give birth safely, that children can get immunized, and that people
can be tested and treated for diseases.
4.
Tackling health inequities
The
COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the deep disparities that persist
between and within countries, some of which are being exacerbated and risk
widening even further.
In 2021 we will draw on the latest WHO data
and build on international commitments (and existing work) to advance universal
health coverage and address the broader determinants of health. We will work
with countries to monitor and address health inequities related to critical
issues such as income, gender, ethnicity, living in remote rural areas or
disadvantaged urban areas, education, occupation/employment conditions, and
disability.
We will focus on steps the health sector can
take to ensure equitable access to quality health services across the continuum
of care, as well as engage with other sectors to address social and
environmental determinants of health.
As part of our year-long campaign, on World
Health Day, 7 April 2021, WHO will call for global action to address health
inequities.
5.
Provide global leadership on science and data
WHO will monitor and evaluate the latest
scientific developments around COVID-19 and beyond, identifying opportunities
to harness those advances to improve global health. We will uphold and
strengthen the excellence, relevance and efficacy of our own core technical
functions, to provide the world with the best evidence-based recommendations
for public health on issues ranging from Alzheimers to Zika.
And through efforts like our revamped SCORE
Technical Package, we will support countries in strengthening the capacity of
their health data and information systems to report on progress towards the
health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
6.
Revitalize efforts to tackle communicable
diseases
In recent decades, WHO and partners have
worked resolutely to end the scourge of polio, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,
and to avert epidemics of diseases like measles and yellow fever. COVID-19 set
back much of this work in 2020. So in 2021 we will help countries get vaccines
for polio and other diseases to the people who missed out during the pandemic.
As part of this push, we will work to improve access to the HPV vaccine as part
of the new global effort to end cervical cancer we launched in 2020.
We will work with partners to implement the
new 10-year Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), with its global
targets and milestones to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate 20 NTDs.
And we will intensify efforts to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and to
eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
7.
Combat drug resistance
Global efforts to end infectious diseases
will only succeed if we have effective medicines to treat them. So it will be
vital to build on the work we do with our One Health partners -- the Food and
Agricultural Organization and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) -- and
with stakeholders across all sectors to preserve antimicrobials. The new Global
Leadership Group for Antimicrobial Resistance, which includes industry chiefs
as well as political leaders, will meet for the first time in January to
discuss ways to accelerate momentum on this critical issue. At the same time,
WHO will further improve global monitoring and continue our support to national
action plans, making sure that antimicrobial resistance is factored into health
system strengthening and health emergencies preparedness plans.
8.
Prevent and treat NCDs and mental health
conditions
WHO’s latest Global Health Estimates revealed
that noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) were responsible for 7 of the top 10
causes of death in 2019. In 2020 we saw how particularly vulnerable people with
NCDs are to COVID-19, and how vital it is to ensure that screening and
treatment programmes for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease
are accessible to all who need them when they need them. This will be a major
focus in 2021, along with a new Global Diabetes Compact, and a campaign to help
100 million people quit tobacco.
9.
Build back better
COVID-19 has been a pivotal moment in many
ways, and offers a unique opportunity to build back a better, greener,
healthier world. Our Manifesto for a Healthy Recovery from COVID-19, with its
goals of addressing climate change and health, reducing air pollution and
improving air quality, can play a major role in making this happen.
A conference in June 2021 will focus on
supporting health in Small Island Developing States. Meanwhile, we will take
forward recommendations from the 2020 WHO/UNICEF/Lancet Commission to assure a
healthier planet for our children, and continue our work to improve nutrition
and food systems worldwide -- including through the global strategy on food
safety and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Food Systems Summit in
September.
10.
Act in solidarity
One of the key principles WHO has emphasized
throughout the fight against COVID-19 is the need to demonstrate greater solidarity
– between nations, institutions, communities and individuals, closing the
cracks in our defences on which the virus thrives.
(Source-WHO)
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