FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre, Seville
The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the presentation of the Global Health Action Initiative (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)
Within the framework of the third day of the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development of the United Nations, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, participated this morning in the presentation of the Global Health Action Initiative, one of Spain's main proposals included in the Seville Platform for Action (SPA).
The president began his speech by referring to the recent article published in the journal Nature, which alludes that cuts in the global health ecosystem alone will cause more than 25 million deaths in the next 15 years. A scenario, he said, that is being reached "because of the withdrawal and retreat of some states, but also because selfishness is winning the battle against empathy in a world of fragile memory. A world in which science and knowledge wage an unequal battle against the propagators of hoaxes and conspiracy theories."
Sánchez, who regretted that we are forgetting the main lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic - that "no matter how high the border walls are", "no virus is going to stop at customs" - insisted on the need to reinforce the global health architecture, if not out of moral conviction, at least "to guarantee the security of our citizens".
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, during his speech at the presentation | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa
On this point, the head of the Executive announced that Spain is going to support this vision "with facts and with more resources"; specifically with "315 million euros for the period 2025-2027". This amount includes the increase in Spain's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis; the reinforcement of Spain's contribution to the GAVI Alliance, reaching 130 million euros in the new period; and the multiannual contribution to the WHO with 60 million euros.
The Global Health Action Initiative, which is supported by leading multilateral health organisations and more than 10 countries, has four major goals: "Strengthening the global health architecture and making it more sustainable and efficient; aligning international financing more closely with country priorities; promoting universal health coverage through resilient, inclusive and sustainable health systems; and fostering domestic resource mobilisation." Ultimately, it is about "acting with a long-term vision to improve a more effective and equitable global health governance system," said Sánchez.
Along with the president of the Government of Spain, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Executive Directors of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Peter Sands, and of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, Dr Sania Nishtar also took part in the event.
