Davos
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Discours prononcé en anglais. Texte original, non traduit.
Dear Ministers
Director General
Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great pleasure to welcome you today for this lunch
at the House of Switzerland in Davos.
The Swiss House provides an excellent opportunity to bring together WEF participants and discuss emerging issues of international politics.
The theme for today is “International Geneva”.
Geneva is the home city of the permanent representations of some 176 UN member states, around 400 NGOs as well as 37 international organizations.
Switzerland has a long tradition of hosting international organizations.
It started more than 150 years ago with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Today, Geneva is a unique ecosystem and a research center for present and future global governance.
This lunch session will feature a discussion about
“New perspectives on the Economics of Global Health”.
Public health is a political choice.
Its foundations are good infrastructure and solid institutions.
It requires sustainable investment from both the public and the private sector.
This investment has a positive economic impact, not least because a healthy population contributes to economic development.
Promoting Universal health coverage is a priority of the Swiss Health Foreign Policy.
Our goal is sustainable access
to good quality health services
and well-functioning health systems for all.
Still today, half the world’s population does not have access to the health services they need.
The issue is a complex one:
Rising costs for health care and an ageing population
pose new challenges.
This takes place in a context of growing economic pressures on the social welfare state.
All stakeholders in the health systems have a role to play
and must take responsibility.
Patient Safety is a case in point.
Data shows that worldwide up to ten percent of the patients in hospitals become infected.
Adverse events, such as infections, have serious economic
consequences.
In OECD countries, about 15 percent of total hospital activity and expenditure is a direct result of adverse events.
This is without speaking of the suffering caused.
We all share the challenge of avoiding such adverse events
and strengthening patient safety.
This requires international collaboration
and Switzerland is very pleased to host the
fifth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety
at the end of February in Montreux.
I would like to highlight another important event that will take place in Switzerland this year: the third UN World Data Forum.
Good quality data is important to implement the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
We must rely on solid evidence for sound policy making.
Public health care is a good example:
We need data on the long-term benefits of investing in health.
But we also need statistics on inequalities in our societies, for example based on gender.
This event today also gives me the opportunity, to officially launch the “Road to Bern”:
A series of international and national events, starting from now until the opening of the UN World Data Forum in October.
These events build bridges between International Organizations,
the private sector and academia.
Before giving the floor to our moderator, Professor Ilona Kickbusch,
I would like to thank the speakers of this session for joining us today:
Dr Tedros, Director General of WHO
Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Professor of Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and
Shobana Kamineni, Executive vice-chairperson of Apollo Hospitals.
I am looking forward to hearing your perspective on the economics of global health.
Finally, I would like to invite all of you to engage actively in this discussion, while enjoying the delights of Swiss cuisine.