The over-politicization of international health should be avoided, Péter Szijjártó told the WHO General Assembly.Continue reading
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will visit Budapest, the Hungarian Foreign Minister announced. After meeting with him in Geneva, Péter Szijjártó wrote that they have been working together for a long time, as he was previously foreign minister of his country, and their relationship dates back to that time, reports Világgazdaság.
“I have always appreciated his work, and his ability to keep the WHO a non-political, professional organization was very important in defeating the COVID pandemic,” said the Hungarian Minister. He added that there was again agreement that protecting people’s health has nothing to do with geopolitics, that viruses know no borders, no political approach, or geopolitical conflicts, and that a united global response is needed to protect people’s health.
In the field of health, there is no room for an East-West debate,”
Szijjártó highlighted.
“We are seeing news that COVID has reared its head again, but my friend Tedros reassured me that the level of preparedness in the world today is incomparably better than it was three or four years ago.
We have the necessary tools, immunity through vaccination and natural processes, and a broad knowledge of the virus itself,”
the politician wrote. He added: “Together, these will make it possible to prevent a pandemic like the one we faced last time. No one wants to go through a period of lockdowns and quarantines again, and fortunately it looks as if they will not have to.”
He also announced that
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will soon visit Budapest to officially inaugurate the WHO Budapest headquarters, where a 100-strong international staff works on the world’s most important health issues.
Since its opening, the center has been home to services such as procurement and supply, talent acquisition and management, cybersecurity, fleet management, a global insurance center, and remuneration.
Of the many UN agencies, the WHO is not the only one present in Hungary. Organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism have regional or global headquarters in the country. Furthermore, earlier this year, an agreement was signed to relocate the global financial center of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) to Budapest. This will significantly increase Hungary’s role in the fight against hunger.
Via Világgazdaság, Featured photo via Facebook/Szijjártó Péter