Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Acting Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, renewed the country’s commitment to work with the international community to ensure the activation of the “One Health” approach.
In his speech before the plenary session of the 75th General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO), held in Geneva on Tuesday, the Minister thanked the organization for supporting countries during the Coronavirus crisis.
The minister noted that the COVID-19 crisis showed that there is no safety for any individual or country until everyone is safe, stressing the importance of integrating the efforts of the countries of the world, and coordinating among them to confront all public health events of international concern.
Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, pointed out that the minister highlighted the shortcomings shown by the Coronavirus pandemic in the global response to this crisis and the attendant consequences as a result of inequality and fairness in providing all requirements and tools for responding to health emergencies and the failure to share information and technologies, which required coordinated international efforts.
The minister also stressed that avoiding future epidemiological threats requires countries to consider in depth the challenges that affected the ability of countries to respond quickly and effectively to health emergencies, as the pandemic showed a gap between the required and timely response, and the availability of resources to achieve this.
Regarding Egypt’s response to the pandemic, Abdel Ghaffar said that the Ministry of Health’s plan was based on implementing all preventive measures, with the publication of a comprehensive vaccination plan that has achieved tremendous results to date, as well as intensifying efforts to ensure the continued provision of health services effectively and flexibly.
One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach — working at the local, regional, national, and global levels — with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
