His Excellency, the President of Sri Lanka; Dr Asela Gunawardena, Director General of Health Services, Sri Lanka; Professor Dr Wah Yun Low, President, APACPH; Professor Indika Karunathilake, Conference Chair, participants, partners and friends,
A very good morning to all.
It is almost a year since COVID-19 emerged.
Since then, the world has battled the most deadly and disruptive pandemic in living memory.
More than 1.5 million people have been killed by the disease, including more than 168 000 in the South-East Asia Region.
Lives and livelihoods have been uprooted, causing a range of secondary health outcomes.
But there is cause for optimism.
More than a handful of vaccines are in phase 3 trials. Through the WHO-supported COVAX Facility, we expect safe and effective vaccines to be deployed to priority groups in coming months, with the aim of delivering 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
WHO is committed to ensuring that some people in all countries receive vaccines first, rather than all people in some countries.
As and when vaccines are deployed, we must continue to implement the basic public health measures that countries across the world – including Sri Lanka – have shown to be effective, and which have defined our “new normal” for many months now.
I thank the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) for convening this conference with such a timely and important theme – “public health in the new normal”.
Let us consider what exactly the “new normal” consists of.
Certainly, the society-wide measures that have been applied to control the virus, such as regular handwashing, physical distancing and mask use.
But in the context of public health as a professional and academic discipline, it must refer to much more.
In the process of controlling the virus, we have established a new normal that must outlive the crisis, and which must be integrated into our primary health care approach to achieving universal health coverage (UHC), and with it, health for all.
First, we have seen the power of digital health, particularly telemedicine.
Throughout the crisis, many older people and other vulnerable groups have accessed primary care services online, which could be a viable service option moving forward, especially for people in remote and rural areas.
But more knowledge and research – especially implementation research – is needed to fully harness its potential, and to ensure that in expanding access quality is maintained.
Second, we have seen the power of good public health communication.
In countries with high-quality risk communication, whole-of-society buy-in to controlling the virus has promoted behavioural change and increased trust in public health and social measures.
Beyond the pandemic, public health professionals must continue to empower people and communities through effective communication, including by countering stigma, a key barrier to reducing TB, HIV, hepatitis, leprosy and mental health burdens in particular.
Third, we have seen how important our goal of achieving UHC is for all public health specializations.
Strong health systems that are accessible to all can better prevent disease outbreaks and are more resilient when they do occur.
But they can also more easily maintain essential health services for other health issues. The capacity to do this must be considered a key part of emergency preparedness and response and included within the health security discourse.
I look forward to tomorrow’s symposium on UHC and to celebrating International UHC Day on Saturday, the theme of which is “Health for All: Protect Everyone”.
The twin objectives of UHC and health security will best be addressed through strengthened primary health care, and to that end, I am happy to share that on 14 December, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Declaration of Astana, WHO and its partners will be launching the Operational framework for primary health care: transforming vision into action, which the World Health Assembly recently adopted.
Finally, the pandemic has established a new normal in which policy-makers from all sectors recognize that economic health is dependent on public health, which is in turn dependent on adequate public health spending.
This message is especially important as countries grapple with the pandemic’s fiscal impact and potentially reprioritize public spending.
Throughout the COVID-19 response, recovery and beyond, sustained and scaled up investments in health will facilitate rapid and inclusive progress in all policy areas.
With this in mind, I urge you to continue to engage across sectors to drive multisectoral, whole-of-government action to address and overcome other health-related challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, climate change and food safety.
I once again thank the APACPH for convening this meeting and look forward to your discussions on how together we can harness the new normal to deliver a Region and world that is healthier and more health secure, and which achieves our goals of UHC and health for all.
Thank you.