The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised the progress of vaccination in Argentina, thanked the contributions of research on the effectiveness of vaccines in the country and agreed on the importance of a comprehensive approach to vaccination. mental health, after meeting in Geneva with the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti.
“Thank you very much @carlavizzotti, Minister of Health of #Argentina, for personally joining the #EB150 and for a very productive meeting on the WHO emergency use listing process, studies on the effectiveness of the #COVID19 vaccine and the importance to invest in local production to provide #VaccinEquity”, published the head of the WHO on his Twitter account after the meeting.
Thanks a lot, @carlavizzotti, #Argentina Health Minister, for joining the #EB150 in person, and for a very productive meeting on @QUIEN Emergency Use Listing process, studies on #COVID19 vaccine effectiveness & importance of investing in local production to deliver #VaccinEquity. pic.twitter.com/V2JrpjApxS
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 24, 2022
In addition, he indicated that he discussed with the minister the mental health initiative promoted by the health portfolio and President Alberto Fernández and how the WHO can support it: “We agreed that there is no health without mental health and we talked about the importance of a #PandemicAgreement and sustainable financing for health and the WHO,” he said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met for more than an hour with Vizzotti after the opening of the 150th meeting of the WHO Executive Council during which they addressed the challenges of the organization in general and of Argentina in particular for the coming years.
“Faced with the alarming increase in mental health ailments due to the impact of the pandemic, Argentina initiated a cross-cutting, intersectoral and community approach to mental health that strengthened mechanisms for coordination and psychosocial support in emergencies”
As reported on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health in a statement, the director of the WHO “pondered the progress of vaccination against Covid-19 in our country, shared with the minister the progress of the emergency approval process for Sputnik V vaccines and Cansino, and the possibility of support from the WHO in relation to strengthening the comprehensive approach to mental health that Argentina is prioritizing”.
During the meeting, the director general of the WHO valued the minister’s face-to-face participation in this context and the role of Argentina as a member and vice-chairman of the WHO Executive Committee.
At the executive meeting of the @QUIEN the minister @carlavizzotti He spoke of the importance of strengthening the local and regional production of health products and technologies to avoid inequities in access to essential supplies in health emergencies.https://t.co/CESzr7GHz3 pic.twitter.com/zuP0SiGIJA
– Ministry of Health of the Nation (@msalnacion) January 24, 2022
“He also highlighted Argentina’s leadership in health matters in the Region of the Americas and placed special emphasis on the meeting he had at the G20 with the President of the Nation, Alberto Fernández, where he pointed out the important progress made by Argentina in vaccination. from 3 years of age, as well as the high vaccination coverage”, they indicated.
For his part, Vizzotti explained that, as he expressed in his speech at the Executive Council, “in the face of the alarming increase in mental health ailments from the impact of the pandemic, Argentina initiated a cross-cutting, intersectoral and community approach to mental health which reinforced mechanisms for coordination and psychosocial support in emergencies, promoted training and updating of protocol design, and established specific care plans for workers on the first line of response in the health system.
Regarding vaccination against Covid-19, Vizzotti and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the importance of invest in local and regional production to achieve equity in access to vaccines throughout the world and, in this sense, the director of the WHO also valued “the studies on the effectiveness of the vaccines carried out by Argentina, since they will be a key piece to advance with the ongoing processes”.
“In relation to the emergency approval process for the vaccines against COVID-19, Adhanom updated the situation of the Cansino and Sputnik V vaccines, of which the first already has the inspection of the plants and is in the process of analysis of information from the WHO, while the second is awaiting the latest report from the Russian health portfolio to subsequently carry out the visit and finalize the evaluation,” the press release said.
And he added: “In both cases the progress is satisfactory and, in this sense, the minister explained that, in each meeting with this body, the Ministry of Health of the Nation updates the data of our country in relation to said vaccines and makes available to the WHO, understanding the evaluation times required by these processes”.
