Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Director-General, World Health Organization
Carter Center Review Meetings
Video posted with permission.
Transcript:
Ladies and gentlemen, greetings from WHO, and thank you for the invitation to speak to you.
One of my first engagements when I took office last year was to visit The Carter Center because you make such a difference in the lives of people you serve.
Your work is helping to make history.
Together we’re helping to bring guinea-worm disease closer to eradication, saving lives and preventing suffering.
The peace initiatives President Carter has helped to broker are providing opportunities to deliver much-needed health services to people that need them most.
We’re seeing results.
Millions of Nigerians are no longer at risk of lymphatic filariasis, and an entire generation of children has been protected from this terrible disease in Ethiopia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
To add to the global success against trachoma, you are supporting control and prevention programmes in several countries in Africa.
We’ve eliminated river blindness in four countries of the Americas, and together we will eliminate it in many more.
Despite the progress we have made, neglected tropical diseases continue to cost developing economies billions of dollars annually in lost productivity and reduced global prosperity.
The main reason we are still struggling against these diseases is because we have failed to achieve universal health coverage.
No one should get sick and die just because they are poor, especially from diseases that are easily prevented and treated.
But by working together, we can end this injustice.
This is our greatest contribution towards ending poverty and saving lives.
I look forward to our continued partnership, and wish you every success during your programme review.
I thank you.
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