NewzIreland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar welcomed Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, to Dublin today, to discuss strengthening the partnership between Ireland and the WHO across a range of global and domestic health areas. Dr Tedros also met with Michael Higgins, the President of Ireland.The meetings underscores Ireland's commitment to actively address pressing health issues on both national and global fronts. The discussions delved into strategies for tackling health emergencies, enhancing healthcare infrastructure, and fostering collaborative research initiatives.
The leaders also discussed the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and agreed on the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated in no uncertain terms how important the World Health Organization is, and how central a role it plays in promoting and securing health and well-being for all, on a global scale. This visit is an important opportunity to affirm and strengthen Ireland’s partnership with the WHO.”The leaders discussed the importance of learning from the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic to be prepared for any future outbreaks. They agreed on the importance of moving forward with the instrument on pandemic preparedness to be ready for such events.
They also discussed the vital need for increased medical supplies to be allowed into humanitarian settings and the disproportionate impact that violence is having on children and women. This year, Ireland announced it will invest around €10 million in supporting the work of the WHO, with funding targeted to support healthcare in emergency settings and programmes aimed at tackling child malnutrition.“Ireland plays a powerful role in advocating for peace and equity in health globally, and has provided vital assistance to WHO’s work around the world” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.In the context of the funding, the Irish, Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Micheál Martin T.D. commented saying it is: “recognising the importance public health measures globally, and in the light of increasing health needs arising from conflict and crisis, that Ireland is significantly increasing its support for the WHO.”
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros greets EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Director-General Maciej Popowski. ©WHO/Chris BlackTop representatives of WHO and its Health Emergency Programme (WHE) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) met today in Geneva for their annual high-level dialogue.The EU team was led by Mr Michael Köhler, Deputy Director-General of DG ECHO, who was accompanied by Ms Susanne Mallaun, Head of Unit, Strategic Partnerships with Humanitarian Organizations, and Ms Dana Le Roy, WHO desk officer at ECHO, with representatives of the EU Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva.Exchange on health emergency preparedness and response topped the agenda, as delegates discussed shared global health priorities and partnership in health emergencies and humanitarian response. The partners also brainstormed about strategic developments related to the WHO fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14), which is presently under development, and also discussed the negotiations underway for a Pandemic Accord, the European Humanitarian response capacity, progress with key partnership projects, including on mental health and nutrition, joint health emergency and epidemic response in humanitarian settings.While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought both organizations closer together, at strategic, technical and operational levels, the high-level dialogue participants agree that the ECHO-WHO partnership has grown even stronger post-pandemic, with a shared strategic vision for a better, safer, healthier world.This partnership with ECHO is critical to WHO’s health emergency operations.
In 2023, WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters; disasters such as earthquakes; the health impact of conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and in other regions. The impacts of all these health emergencies has overlapped with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, ECHO and WHO are responding to epidemic outbreaks and health emergencies around the world, delivering life-saving health care to the most vulnerable.
Mr Michael Köhler, Deputy Director-General of DG ECHO, said that "demands on WHO have increased exponentially over the past years, showing the trust that par…
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