28 September 2023 Pandemics – no time for neglect

Check against delivery!

Excellencies,
Guests,

Welcome to the BMZ!

From your work as health experts you all know: There is no glory in prevention. In most cases successful prevention is invisible. My colleague, the German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, and I also know that full well. Yet, I believe, there is little that is more glorious than preventing deadly diseases.

And that is what today is all about. How can we, as politicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, how can we as the international community prevent the spread of diseases and pandemics? How can we be best prepared? As a result of climate change and globalisation, diseases are spreading to world regions that were previously unaffected. Just recently, some cases of dengue fever were reported in Europe. As temperatures rise, tiger mosquitos as vectors of the virus are feeling more and more at home, including in places such as Berlin.

That is just one of many examples. Infectious diseases don’t stop at national borders. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how fast pathogens cross borders even if drastic travel restrictions prevent people from moving about. Across the globe, people had to come to realise that “no one is safe until everyone is safe”. But this is not only true for pandemic times. Health is literally a global public good that must be accessible to all people worldwide.

If we take that seriously – and we do at the BMZ – then we must also be very clear: a lot has to change in how we promote global health in future. We need to address health in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way that is based on solidarity – as proposed by the One Health Approach. Three elements are crucial:

First, we – finally – need an international framework for communication and action which creates trust and sets the rules. We need a global pandemic treaty. This will lay the ground for a swift exchange of data and a fair distribution of vaccines and medicines. I hope that the agreement will be concluded as soon as next year. Because pandemic prevention will either work globally – or not at all.

Second, we need better coordination, both at the national level and the international level.

At country level, the support provided by international actors needs to be aligned with national health programmes. For this to work, countries need up-to-date and well-defined national health strategies. Therefore, Germany is working with its partner countries to improve these strategies and to identify areas where international support is needed.

We also need better coordination at the international level. For this, a strong World Health Organisation is key. I am glad that several WHO representatives are here with us today, including Mike Ryan, Chikwe Ihekweazu and Jeremy Farrar. And WHO is, indeed, already moving in the right direction by coordinating the negotiations on the global pandemic treaty and the International Health Regulations.

However, a strong WHO by itself is not enough. I also see a need for the development banks to do their bit. That is why I have joined with other shareholders to initiate a reform of the World Bank. It must step up investment in global public goods – including in the health sector. Other development banks should do the same.

At the same time, it is important to continue to support existing health initiatives including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. They have years of experience and are firmly rooted in the communities – where prevention is needed most. However, these initiatives often have competing interests. To make their work more effective, they need to have more clearly defined mandates.

We all know that prevention is better than cure. That is why the German government supported the creation of the Pandemic Fund. The first 19 projects are now fully funded and demonstrate the Pandemic Fund’s capacity for action. It is a huge success that this has happened so quickly. The Fund is contributing to better health monitoring, better labs and diagnostics and better trained specialists.

However, it needs to have sufficient and reliable funding. Germany as one of the Fund’s major donors will keep up its support. I would like to use this occasion to call on more donors to support the important work of the Pandemic Fund.

We will also need better coordination when we are faced with massive outbreaks of infection in the future. We need a new mechanism that builds on the learnings from the international response to COVID-19. Our window of opportunity for developing the first structures for such a Medical Countermeasures Platform is now – before the next disease spreads across the globe. We must use it.

The new platform should support the entire value chain – from the development of vaccines to getting the shot into arms. From producing medicines and other medical products to distributing them. So that access to health products is ensured worldwide when the planet is faced with an outbreak. Health should not be a question of geography.

Third, and finally: we need increased cooperation with the private sector. For example, in the field of vaccine production. My Ministry is working together with partner countries, the African Union, other multilateral organisations and the private sector to increase regional production. The aim is to achieve a fair distribution of medical products worldwide. And to help the African Union reach its goal – producing more than half of all the vaccines Africa needs in Africa by 2040. Germany is providing more than 550 million euros under the framework of a European initiative to support efforts to develop production capacities in Africa, especially in Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. It is great that we can welcome guests from these countries here today and hear about their experiences.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It takes time and effort to reduce pandemic risks. We have to forge effective alliances, create the necessary structures and invest in health. Before the next pandemic comes along.

And there is glory in prevention – you all know that. And it is obvious that we need to act. The Chinese philosopher Confucius says there are three ways to act wisely. One is based on experience, which is the bitterest way. This is the way the international community went during the COVID-19 crisis, learning the hard way, encountering traumatic experiences.

The two other ways are much better: One is reflection. And the other is imitation – learning from best practice. Today let us choose these other two ways. And let us lose no time.