UN United Nations : Director-General's opening remarks at the G7 Summit - 12 June 2021

Thank you, Prime Minister Johnson, and greetings to everyone.

As Sir Patrick and Melinda have outlined, the pandemic is asking us many questions.

We welcome and appreciate the ambition of the 100 days mission - we need bigger, faster, better for the future.

The question that every person on earth is now asking is: how and when will we end this pandemic?

We have the knowledge and tools to do it, including vaccines.

In each of your nations, public health measures in combination with vaccination is driving cases and deaths to the lowest levels since the pandemic began.

But around the world, many other countries are now facing a surge in cases - and they are facing it without vaccines.

We are in the race of our lives, but it's not a fair race, and most countries have barely left the starting line.

Our short-term targets are to vaccinate at least 10% of the population of every country by September, and at least 40% by the end of the year, as you have seen in the joint proposal by the IMF, WHO, WTO and the World Bank.

To reach those targets, we need 100 million more doses right now - this month and next month - and 250 million more by September.

But we must aim higher.

To truly end the pandemic, our goal must be to vaccinate at least 70% of the world's population by the time you meet again in Germany next year. This can be done with the support of the G7 and G20, together.

To do that, we need 11 billion doses.

We welcome the generous announcements you have made about donations of vaccines. Thank you.

But we need more, and we need them faster.

Immediate dose donations are vital, ideally through COVAX. But so is scaling up production, including through the use of technology transfer and intellectual property waivers.

There are many other lessons we all must learn about how to keep our nations and our world safer from future pandemics.

Above all, at the root of the pandemic is a deficit of solidarity and sharing - of the data, information, resources, technology and tools that every nation needs to keep its people safe.

WHO believes the best way to close that deficit is with an international agreement - a treaty, convention, call it what you will - to provide the basis for improved preparedness, detection and response, and for improved cooperation to identify the origins of new pathogens. And I would like to join Boris in thanking Charles Michel.

It would also provide a vital underpinning for a stronger WHO at the centre of the global health architecture.

With 194 Member States and 150 country offices, WHO has a unique global mandate, unique global reach and unique global legitimacy.

The pandemic has shown that the world needs the World Health Organization more than ever.

We look to the G7 for your continued support for a stronger WHO, for a safer world.

Thank you.