WHO Director-General's keynote address at the University of Nicosia Medical School Graduation Ceremony

Honourable Minister Michalis Damianos,

Rector, Professor Philippos Pouyioutas,

Dean, Professor Adonis Ioannides,

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jenny Higham

My fellow honorary doctorate recipient Panos Englezos,

Dr Evangelia Yannaki,

Professor Andreas Charalambous,

Distinguished guests, Ambassadors, Excellencies, dear graduates, faculty, family and friends,

Good evening, it is a great honour for me to be here, first to receive this honorary degree, which I accept with a mixture of pride and humility;

And second, to celebrate with all of you, today's graduates, as you embark on your careers in medicine, public health and research.

My warmest congratulations to you, to your families, to your professors and mentors, and also to all members of family of the university, including the administration. You have so much to be proud of today.

This has not come easy. Your education occurred during the worst pandemic in a century. You and your families and communities had to endure a lot.

And that put you in solidarity with the rest of the world. So while it was difficult, remember that it was also a truly exceptional moment.

You were part of history. You were first-hand witnesses to the power of a pandemic.

And that means that you are graduating not only as health and medical practitioners, but that you have been on the other side during a public health crisis.

You've not only seen, but felt, the impact of a global health emergency, and its effects on families, communities, economies and societies.

It's an invaluable lesson, and one that I hope makes you not only a wiser health practitioner, but a humbler one as well.

And while the pandemic crisis has now thankfully receded, you are graduating at a difficult time in the world, with immense geopolitical challenges.

But as you will see, in the world of public health, in aspects both predictable and unexpected, it is always a difficult time.

And remember that even as you graduate today, your work as a student is not really over. Now, you have graduated from being a student in school to being a student in life.

Remember that the people and the communities you are serving, or that you are working with, often have a lot to teach you. And you should be humbled to continue to learn.

The world needs your attention and your expertise, and most of all, your commitment to listening and making the world a better place.

This is actually my first visit to Cyprus, which you may not know, is home to the newest of WHO's 153 country offices.

Our office in Larnaca was opened less than 18 months ago, and is led by Dr Irshad Shaikh, who is here with us today.

As we are in every country, WHO is committed to supporting the Government of Cyprus in any way we can to promote, provide and protect the health of the people of this island.

Just a few weeks ago, Minister Damianos and health officials from the 11 smallest countries in Europe met here in Cyprus to commit to working together on a range of common health issues.

Like many of those countries, Cyprus faces a significant burden of noncommunicable diseases, driven by tobacco and alcohol use, insufficient physical activity and unhealthy diets.

Climate change is also fueling the spread of mosquito-borne infections including dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

And yet, like many other small countries, Cyprus faces challenges in attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of health and care workers to meet these challenges.

But I'm impressed to see that Cyprus is doing something about that.

I was amazed to learn that until 14 years ago, Cyprus did not have any of its own medical schools, but that now it has three.

This is very impressive, and very encouraging, especially to see the range of careers for which this school is producing graduates - from clinical practice to public health and research.

The simple truth is that there is no health without health and care workers.

Certainly, artificial intelligence and other technologies offer huge potential for research, and for diagnosis, treatment and service delivery.

One of our priorities at WHO is supporting countries to harness the power of technology for health.

But nothing will ever replace a health worker.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us just how important they are.

And yet globally, we are facing a shortage of 10 million health and care workers to achieve the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest gaps are in the poorest countries.

And WHO is supporting countries to address these gaps, and I hope you will have a contribution to address these challenges.

I'm also pleased to see the School's emphasis on research, which has always been the engine of improvements in health.

The key challenge we face is to ensure that the fruits of research are available to all people; that they serve to narrow inequalities, rather than widen them.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a perfect example. The development and approval of multiple safe and effective vaccines in less than a year was a triumph for science and research.

But as you know, inequitable access to those vaccines globally was a stain on our collective conscience. This should not be repeated.

At the World Health Assembly in Geneva last month, the nations of the world took decisive steps towards making the world safer and more equitable.

Based on lessons learned from the pandemic, they adopted an important set of amendments to the International Health Regulations - the instrument of international law that governs the global response to health emergencies.

Initially, countries had committed to finalizing the Pandemic Agreement or Pandemic Treaty - a landmark accord to make the world safer and fairer - in time for the Health Assembly, and although they came a long way, they were not able to reach consensus in time, as you know.

The two-year timeframe they gave themselves was extremely ambitious.

The fact that they came as close as they did in just two years is frankly incredible, because as you know, international agreements and laws take many years.

If they complete negotiations this year, or by next May at the latest, as agreed, it would still be a giant achievement in very short time.

They have committed to doing that for two reasons:

First, because they believe they can, and will, reach agreement;

And second, because they believe the Pandemic Agreement is still needed urgently, because history teaches us that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.

However, the negotiations have been undermined by a torrent of mis- and disinformation, including false claims that nations will cede sovereignty to WHO, which is not true.

So, I ask all of you to speak up for the Pandemic Agreement, and to speak out against mis- and disinformation - because this Agreement belongs to you, it belongs to all of us. It's about making the world safer, the world equitable, for everyone.

Dear friends,

WHO was founded 76 years ago, in 1948, as the world emerged from the devastation of the Second World War.

Like the United Nations of which we are a part, WHO was born of the recognition that the only alternative to global conflict was global cooperation.

Our Constitution was the first instrument of international law to affirm that the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right for all people, without distinction. A fundamental human right. A fundamental human right and an end in itself. At the same time, a means to development.

Not a privilege for some, or for most; it's a right for all.

That is the right for which WHO will continue to work.

My colleagues and friends, dear graduates, as you leave school with your degrees, you are entering into a world that faces many challenges - geopolitical, environmental, climate change, socio-economic, and so on.

We are one humanity, and we must address these shared global threats with a shared response.

There is a famous Ethiopian proverb that says when webs unite, they can tie up a lion.

When we work together, we can overcome anything.

Equity, solidarity, humanity, and compassion are the qualities that can get us through. And I hope that you will carry those values with you throughout your careers and your lives.

Remember that success comes in many forms, but most of all, for those of us in the health profession, it comes from helping others and helping to make the world a better place.

I thank you once again for this great honour. Thank you so much, thank you.

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