依你们所处的时区，大家早上好，下午好，晚上好。

不到6个月前，世卫组织与国际足联签署了一项协议，双方承诺通力合作，通过足球运动促进健康。

当时我们并不知道会出现一种新型病毒，使我们社会的众多领域陷入停顿，包括万人瞩目的足球比赛。

许多足球赛事已经停止。在这一艰难时期，我们的合作变得更加重要。事实上，它给了我们一个超乎以前想象的更紧密合作的契机。

足球可以激发成千上万人尤其是年轻人的兴致，这是公共卫生官员无法企及的。

今天，我非常高兴欢迎我的好兄弟，国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺谈一谈我们联合发起的 “传递适当信息，踢走冠状病毒” 宣传运动。

我还愿借此机会感谢国际足联向COVID-19团结应对基金慷慨捐款1000万美元。

该基金仅在10天之内就已从18.7万多名个人和组织筹集到了7000多万美元，用于帮助一线医务工作者开展拯救生命的工作，医治患者，推进治疗方法和疫苗研究。

我还要感谢抖音捐助了1000万美元，并提供宝贵的支持，帮助广大的年轻用户获得可靠的健康信息。

说到这里，我们新的WhatsApp健康警报信息服务自上周五推出以来，短短4天就吸引了1000万用户。它直接向手机用户提供可靠的健康信息。我们的网站首页上有如何注册的详细信息。本周将推出阿拉伯语、法语和西班牙语版。这是与人们保持直接联系的最佳方式。

所以谢谢你，詹尼，谢谢你的支持和整个足球界的支持。

现在我想请你讲几句话。今天是你的生日。所以，我要说，亲爱的兄弟，祝你生日快乐！非常感谢你今天能与会。

[国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺先生作了简短讲话，随后世卫组织亲善大使阿利松·贝克尔作了简短发言]

谢谢你们，詹尼和阿利松。

现在，我想继续谈一谈COVID-19大流行的情况。

现在全世界几乎每个国家都向世卫组织报告了COVID-19病例，病例总数超过了30万例。这实在太令人心碎。

大流行目前呈加速趋势。从报告的第一例到报告首个10万病例用了67天，到报告第二个10万病例用了11天，到报告第三个10万病例仅仅用了4天。大家可以看到这一病毒是多么猖獗。

但我们不要被统计数字吓倒。我们不是听凭摆布的旁观者，可以采取行动改变这场大流行的发展轨迹。

数字之所以重要，是因为它们不仅仅是数字。它们反映的是人们被彻底搅乱的生活和家庭。

最重要的是我们如何加以应对。

单靠防守是赢不了足球比赛的，还必须反击。

要求人们呆在家里以及采取其他保持人际距离的措施是减缓病毒传播和争取时间的重要方式，但它们属于防守措施。

为了赢得胜利，我们需要采取积极和有针对性的策略向病毒发起进攻，检测每一个疑似病例，隔离和处理每一个确诊病例，追踪并隔离每一个密切接触者。

 

我们注意到，一些国家正在艰难实施这些进攻性措施。

一些国家的情况表明，从国内受影响较小的地区调动资源是提高能力的一种途径。

我们也感谢一些国家派遣了紧急医疗队前往需要支持的其他国家去救治病人和对医护人员进行培训。

这是国际团结互助的光辉典范。但这绝不是意外。

多年来，世卫组织一直与各国合作，为这类意外情况建立一个紧急医疗队网络，从而提供高质量的专业医务工作者的快速增援能力，部署他们救死扶伤。

但是只有当医护人员能够安全地工作时，他们才能有效地完成任务。

我们继续收到世界各地医护人员被大量感染的惊人报道。

即使我们做对了所有其他事情，但倘若我们不优先考虑保护医护人员，许多人也会因为本来可以挽救他们生命的医护人员生病而丧生。

正如你们所知，世卫组织一直与许多合作伙伴一道努力合理分配个人防护装备和确定使用重点。

要解决这些救生工具的全球短缺问题，需要从原材料到成品，疏通供应链的每一个环节。

为减缓病毒传播而采取的措施，可能会加剧基本防护装备以及制造它们所需材料的短缺，进而产生意想不到的后果。

解决这一问题需要全球一级作出政治承诺和政治协调。本周，我将与20国集团的国家元首和政府首脑对话，请他们共同努力，增加产量，取消出口禁令，确保按需公平供应。

20国集团需要团结一致。这些国家占全球国内生产总值的80%以上。如果20国集团做出政治承诺和高度团结，将有助于我们向前迈进，全力抗击这一大流行。

20国集团领导人在世界事务中发挥着举足轻重的作用，团结一致最为重要。

我们还认识到，迫切需要找到有效的治疗方法。迄今为止尚无任何经证明对COVID-19十分有效的治疗方法。

很高兴看到各方在大力研究COVID-19。

但小规模、观察性和非随机性的研究不会给我们带来所需要的解决办法。在没有正确证据的情况下使用未经测试的药物，可能会带来虚假的希望，甚至弊大于利，导致治疗其他疾病所需的基本药物的短缺。

世卫组织为此启动了“团结试验项目”，以尽快获得强有力的高质量证据。我很高兴许多国家加入了这一项目，这将有助于我们加快速度和提高数量。

报名参加“团结试验项目”和其他大型研究的国家越多，就能越快找出疗效好的药物，进而挽救更多的生命。

最后，我想提醒大家，虽然COVID-19正在成为全世界关注的焦点，但还有另一种本可预防和治疗的呼吸系统疾病每年夺走150万人的生命。这就是我们熟知的结核病。

明天是世界结核病日。我们就此提醒世界各国领导人履行其承诺，结束这一古老而可怕的疾病造成的痛苦和死亡。

世界正紧急大力抗击COVID-19疫情。我们也要呼吁国际社会怀着同样的紧迫感和使命感抗击结核病，造福各国人民，构建更健康、更安全和更公平的世界。

让我们行动起来，踢走冠状病毒。

谢谢大家。

WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 23 March 2020

https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19—23-march-2020

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are.

Less than 6 months ago, WHO and FIFA signed an agreement to work together to promote health through football.

We didn’t know then what we know now – that a new virus would emerge that would bring many parts of society to a standstill – including the beautiful game.

Many football matches have stopped – but our collaboration has become even more important during these difficult times. In fact, it’s given us the opportunity of working together more closely than we imagined.

Football can reach millions of people, especially younger people, that public health officials cannot.

Today it’s my great pleasure to welcome my dear brother Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, to talk about our joint campaign to “Pass the message to kick out coronavirus”.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank FIFA for its generous contribution of US$10 million to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

To date, the fund has raised more than US$70 million, in just 10 days, from more than 187,000 individuals and organizations, to help health workers on the front lines to do their life-saving work, treat patients and advance research for treatments and vaccines.

I would also like to thank TikTok for its contribution of US$10 million, and for its valuable support in helping to reach its large, young audience with reliable health information.

Speaking of which, our new WhatsApp Health Alert has now attracted 10 million users since we launched it last Friday – this is just in 4 days –delivering reliable health information directly to their mobile phones. Details on how to sign up are on the front page of our website. The Arabic, French and Spanish versions will be launched this week, and this is the best way to be connected directly with people.

So thank you, Gianni, for your support, and the support of the whole footballing community.

I’d now like to give you the floor to say a few words, but I would also like to recognize that it’s your birthday today. So I would like to say happy birthday, my dear brother, and thank you so much for joining us today.

[MR GIANNI INFANTINO, PREISDENT OF FIFA MADE BRIEF REMARKS, FOLLOWED BY WHO GOODWILL AMBASSADOR ALISSON BECKER]

Thank you, Gianni and Alisson.

I’d now like to continue with the rest of my remarks on the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 300,000 cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, from almost every country in the world. That’s heartbreaking.

The pandemic is accelerating. It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just 4 days for the third 100,000 cases. You can see how the virus is accelerating.

But we’re not prisoners to statistics. We’re not helpless bystanders. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic.

Numbers matter, because they’re not just numbers. They’re people, whose lives and families have been turned upside down.

But what matters most is what we do.

You can’t win a football game only by defending. You have to attack as well.

Asking people to stay at home and other physical distancing measures are an important way of slowing down the spread of the virus and buying time – but they are defensive measures.

To win, we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics –  testing every suspected case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact.

We recognize that some countries are struggling with the capacity to carry out these offensive measures.

Several countries have shown that mobilizing resources internally from less-affected regions is one way to increase capacity.

We’re also grateful that several countries have sent Emergency Medical Teams to care for patients and train health workers in other countries that need support.

This is an incredible example of international solidarity. But it’s not an accident.

WHO has been working with countries for years to build a network of Emergency Medical Teams for exactly this eventuality, to provide surge capacity of high-quality health professionals who can be deployed to care for patients and save lives.

But health workers can only do their jobs effectively when they can do their jobs safely.

We continue to hear alarming reports from around the world of large numbers of infections among health workers.

Even if we do everything else right, if we don’t prioritize protecting health workers, many people will die because the health worker who could have saved their life is sick.

As you know, WHO has been working hard with many partners to rationalize and prioritize the use of personal protective equipment.

Addressing the global shortage of these life-saving tools means addressing every part of the supply chain, from raw materials to finished product.

Measures put in place to slow the spread of the virus may have unintended consequences by exacerbating shortages of essential protective gear, and the materials needed to make them.

Solving this problem requires political commitment and political coordination at the global level. This week, I will be addressing heads of state and government from the G20 countries. Among other issues, I will be asking them to work together to increase production, avoid export bans and ensure equity of distribution, on the basis of need.

We need unity in the G20 countries, who have more than 80% of global GDP. Political commitment at the G20 means strong solidarity that can help us to move forward and fight this pandemic in the strongest way possible.

The most important ask to G20 leaders is solidarity, to act as one, because they have the biggest stake in the world, in all respects.

We also recognize that there is a desperate need for effective therapeutics. There is currently no treatment that has been proven to be effective against COVID-19.

It’s great to see the level of energy now being directed to research against COVID-19.

Small, observational and non-randomized studies will not give us the answers we need. Using untested medicines without the right evidence could raise false hope, and even do more harm than good and cause a shortage of essential medicines that are needed to treat other diseases.

That’s why WHO has launched the SOLIDARITY trial, to generate robust, high-quality evidence as fast as possible. I’m glad that many countries have joined the SOLIDARITY trial, that will help us to move with speed and volume.

The more countries that sign up to the SOLIDARITY trial and other large studies, the faster we will get results on which drugs work, and the more lives we will be able to save.

I’d like to end by reminding everyone that although COVID-19 is dominating the world’s attention, there’s another respiratory disease that is both preventable and treatable, but which kills 1.5 million people every year – and that disease is the old-timer, tuberculosis.

Tomorrow is World TB Day – an opportunity to remind world leaders of the commitments they have made to end the suffering and death caused by this ancient and terrible disease.

The world is rightly responding to COVID-19 with urgency and purpose. We call on the global community to harness that same urgency and purpose for the fight against tuberculosis – and for a healthier, safer, fairer world for everyone.

The rule of the game: to kick out coronavirus.

I thank you.