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When participating in a virtual conference on strengthening the role of the European Union, Marta Temido stated that Health diplomacy “is not an option” of the States, but a “shared need”as global health challenges “transcend borders”.
For the Minister of Health, who at the meeting organized under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU addressed the lessons that the pandemic brought, stressed that “health knows no borders”.
“Global health challenges transcend classic North / South or East / West boundaries and divisions, exposing the limitations of segmented approaches”Marta Temido began by saying. “This is the time to act, to jointly seek to strengthen the strength and influence of the European Union in Health”.
“Therefore, Health diplomacy is not an option for states. Instead, it is a shared need “, he further argued.
The minister also warned about the the need for “more inclusive, comprehensive and coordinated strategies to face new challenges” and, at the same time, the Importance of “Global Solidarity” in Combating Threats to Global Public Health.
Hence the fact that “No state is safe until the whole world is safe” and, in that sense, “the EU has been and will continue to be committed” to the goal of cross-border solidarity, reinforcing “the Union’s growing influence on health. global and also in health diplomacy. “, he pointed.
Marta Temido has also assured that the Council of the EU, which Portugal will preside until June, assumes a “clear commitment” with a view to reinforcing “effective multilateralism”, taking into account that health crosses several areas, such as “foreign policy”, “developing”. “,” security “,” agriculture “,” environment “or” civil protection “.
Also participating in the inaugural session of the Conference on Global Health, the Minister of Foreign Affairs defended the importance of strengthening public health systems and global cooperation, warning that “much remains to be done” against the covid-19 pandemic.
Regarding the investment of more than five billion euros in the European health program, Augusto Santos Silva recalled that it was the The first time “in the history of the European Union” that there is a budget “for its own European program, specifically aimed at health”.
“The health program will have an endowment of more than five billion euros”said the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the conference organized by the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and the Ministry of Health, under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.
In addition, Santos Silva highlighted that the so-called Portuguese Presidency in the Council of the EU is building the so-called “Union for Health”, reinforcing “the powers of the European Medicines Agency or the European Center for Disease Control”.
For the minister it is urgent “to build resources (…) focused on the well-being of people, invest more in populations, in social cohesion and in the importance of public health”.
Augusto Santos Silva also said that it is Need to obtain resources and sustainability in matters related to Health., highlighting that the issue is “one of the great issues” of the Portuguese presidency of the European Union.
“There is much to do and much is being done”He also said, highlighting the importance of promoting measures to extend the number of diagnostic tests for covid-19 and in the distribution of vaccines.
“We went to great lengths to distribute vaccines. Never in human history have vaccines been developed so rapidly”said the head of Portuguese diplomacy, adding that the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union has a legislative agenda on health.
“What we do in Europe is important, but the most important thing is what we do in the world, only together can we fight the pandemic “Santos Silva said, referring to collaboration with international organizations such as the UN and the World Health Organization.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also highlighted what he called “Global Health” and stated that it is important to “increase access to vaccines” around the world, especially in Africa.
The Conference on Global Health – Strengthening the Role of the European Union (EU) in Global Health will take place this Thursday at the Centro Cultural de Belém.
The conference focuses on strengthening the role of the European Union in global health, in the dimensions of global health diplomacy, with special articulation with the EU-Africa agenda, leadership in the design of Universal Health Coverage and the impact of the climate change in health, with special emphasis on the issue of vector-borne diseases and the challenges of antimicrobial resistance.
