Razia

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

To the people of Tenerife,

My name is Tedros, and I serve as the Director-General of the @WHO, the @UN agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.

I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.

I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.

But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19. the current public health risk from #hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.

Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.

I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.

I personally thanked Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon for #Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.

And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.

Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.

Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.

With respect, care, and gratitude,
Tedros

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

They circled the Moon while the rest of us stayed glued to screens full of war and outrage.
Humanity can reach farther than ever before, yet still can't reach across a border to shake hands.
We're smart enough to survive space.
When will we be wise enough to survive each other?

[Chikwe Ihekweazu @Chikwe_I]

The truth is as follows…

[France ONU Genève 🇫🇷🇺🇳 @FranceONUGeneve]

Health is everyone’s concern. Pandemics know no borders.

@WHO monitors pandemics and facilitates rapid, coordinated responses.

It provides #health recommendations & reliable information, sets guidelines for drug safety, food safety, & more.

Let’s choose science & cooperation.

[World Health Organization (WHO) @WHO]

https://t.co/cihfJ16HQt

[Maria Van Kerkhove @mvankerkhove]

Proud to be @WHO

[Annalena Baerbock @UN_PGA]

Congratulations to @WHO Member States for adopting the #PandemicAccord during the World Health Assembly!

With this milestone, we are strengthening our collective ability to prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics.

This is a great example of multilateralism at its best—working together toward a safer, healthier, more resilient world.

[Simon Manley @SimonManleyFCDO]

The moment that the Pandemic Accord was formally adopted by the World Health Assembly

A big boost for global health security, the @WHO and multilateralism.

Congratulations to @DrTedros and all his team, the Bureau who oversaw the negotiations, and our own 🇬🇧 negotiators

[Norway in Geneva 🇳🇴 @NorwayInGeneva]

“Today, you, the Member States, have chosen solidarity over fragmentation”

- Youth Delegate Uswa Malik addressing the World Health Assembly after adoption of the #PandemicAgreement #WHA78

[WHO Youth Council @WHOYouthCouncil]

🌍💡 The world’s tired of winging it! …and we, the #youth, are ready for a better plan. After all, pandemics don’t come with an instruction manual... but @WHO #PandemicAccord is here to change that! 🚀

#INBnegotiations finish line is close – let's make it happen! 🌟

[WHO South Africa @WHOSouthAfrica]

This morning, @WHOSouthAfrica Rep @ShenaazEl officially presented her credentials to Hon. Deputy Minister of @DIRCO_ZA Alvin Botes. The meeting reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to deepening partnership with the Government of South Africa to strengthen primary health care, advance pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and address the country’s disease burden.

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam dilis Aidan. #Ireland

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

I'm devastated and heartbroken at the passing of a very dear friend and colleague, Aidan O'Leary, Director of the @WHO Polio Eradication Programme.

Aidan's passing is a shock to all of us, and especially to his family and friends in his native Ireland and around the world. On behalf of WHO, I extend my deepest condolences to all of them.

Aidan was an outstanding humanitarian. He served tirelessly in the most difficult parts of the world, to help the most vulnerable populations survive and thrive, and to #EndPolio. He embodied the ideal of service and solidarity across peoples and borders.

His passing is a terrible loss for WHO, for the @UN and for all of humanity.

We will miss Aidan enormously. But we are committed to continuing his legacy to realise his vision - and ours - of a polio-free world.

Rest in peace, my dear friend.

[The Lancet @TheLancet]

"WHO’s Pandemic Hub is 'vitally important for global health security'"

Founded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO Hub for Epidemic and Pandemic Intelligence hopes to strengthen global surveillance but faces substantial challenges. By Udani Samarasekera. https://t.co/hlKcuLFKRW

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

The detection of #polio in #Gaza is another sobering reminder of the dire conditions that people are facing. Continued conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable health threats like polio.

The world is watching. But when will it act?

https://t.co/coY8QX01FR

[Jarbas Barbosa @DirOPSPAHO]

Deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Haiti 🇭🇹 that has shuttered the State University Hospital (HUEH) for nearly two months. This pivotal healthcare facility remains closed, denying essential services to those in dire need. #HealthForAll.

[Volker Türk @volker_turk]

Great meeting @DrTedros to discuss protecting the human right to health amidst increasing global turmoil.

Govt's must ensure equitable access to healthcare services: in war, in communities ravaged by climate change, for the most vulnerable populations— for everyone, everywhere.

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

Welcome to Geneva, @IndiaUNGeneva Ambassador @abagchimea. I look forward to working closely with you to advance #India's role in global health.

Thank you for a constructive discussion on the @WHO Traditional Medicine Centre, the ongoing #PandemicAccord negotiations, and your country's work on digital health.

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

Amid ongoing hostilities in #Gaza city, in a highly complex mission @WHO and partners yesterday delivered:
- medical supplies for ~1000 patients and one pallet of canned food to As-Sahaba Hospital;
- medical supplies for ~1000 patients to Al-Ahli hospital; facilitated the referral of one patient with complex lower limb injuries, and a companion, to a field hospital in Rafah.

On the way to the north, some medical supplies and food were self-distributed by desperate, starving communities.

With shrinking health access, hospitals in the north are overwhelmed, and more medical supplies and food to serve the hundreds of patients are needed. We again call for sustained and safe passage for humanitarian aid. We again appeal for an immediate ceasefire.

[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedros]

.@WHO and partners managed to reach Al-Shifa — once the backbone of the health system in #Gaza, which is now an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege. The team witnessed at least five dead bodies during the mission.

Most of the buildings in the hospital complex are extensively destroyed and the majority of assets damaged or reduced to ashes. Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible. An in-depth assessment by a team of engineers is needed to determine if the remaining buildings are safe for future use.

WHO and partners’ recent effort to support the revival of basic services at Al-Shifa are now lost, and people are once again deprived of access to lifesaving health care services.

As famine looms, disease outbreaks spread, and trauma injuries increase, WHO urges immediate:
- protection of remaining health facilities in Gaza
- protection of health and humanitarian workers
- additional land crossings to allow access into and across north Gaza
- functional deconfliction mechanism
- unimpeded access of humanitarian aid into and across the Gaza Strip
- ceasefire.