On 15 July 2021, Mr Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health of Germany, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), met in Geneva to discuss WHO’s work, including the response to COVID-19, and Germany’s support to the organization.
During the event, Minister Spahn announced the donation of 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and signed with Dr Tedros a new funding agreement of 260 million euros to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) through WHO’s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. Following the bilateral meeting, the two held a joint press conference.
🇩🇪 will provide 260 mio. € in the fight against #Covid19.
We also remain firmly committed to further strengthening @who. Health Minister @jensspahn today in Geneva with @DrTedros pic.twitter.com/XuTPgmrmfi
— Germany UN Geneva (@GermanyUNGeneva) July 15, 2021
Minister Spahn reaffirmed the continued support from Germany to WHO’s work and highlighted the leadership role WHO is playing in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Only continued close multilateral cooperation and joint political action will enable us to overcome the current pandemic and to strengthen the preparedness and resilience of health Systems for Future Challenger” he said. And added: “therefore, strengthening WHO is of utmost importance for the global community. Germany feels strongly committed to this goal.”
The partnership between Germany and WHO is critical. Since 2020, Germany contributed close to US$ 750 million to WHO, including more than US$ 500 million to its COVID-19 response. This new agreement brings Germany’s contribution to more than US$1 billion for the biennium 2020 – 2021, and confirms its position as the number top contributor to WHO.
This new financial support is part of the substantial increase of Germany’s contribution to ACT-A announced by Chancellor Merkel earlier this year and totalling 2.1 billion euros by the end of May 2021.
Dr Tedros acknowledged Germany’s leadership, with its early and significant contribution to ACT-A that provided a major boost to the global response and set an important precedent for other countries to follow. He also highlighted WHO’s strong ties and fruitful collaboration with Germany. The recently announced establishment of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin is the latest example of this partnership.
“Germany has been one of the leading lights in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic globally, under your leadership, and that of Chancellor Merkel”, said Dr Tedros to the Minister. He added: “Many thanks for your personal support over the past few years, and especially the past 18 months, and for the incredible support of the German government and people for WHO, and for global health”.
He also appreciated Germany’s acknowledgement of WHO’s important leadership and coordination role in the COVID-19 response and financial support to WHO to continue its technical work on prequalification, evidence review and production of guidelines across all ACT-A pillars. This support makes possible the response across the world and is critical in particular to reach and serve the most vulnerable.
Dr Tedros also welcomed Germany’s support for the idea of a treaty on pandemic preparedness and response. Itis one of the subjects that WHO Member States will be addressing within the Open-Ended Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to health emergencies. The Working Group started its work today.
Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros and Germany Health Minister @jensspahn. #ACTogether https://t.co/xukYpC8mO8
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 15, 2021