Belt and Road Initiative has the potential to act as an accelerator for the achievement of universal health coverage: WHO Chief

The Belt and Road Initiative has the potential to act as an accelerator for the achievement of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his opening remarks during the High-level Video Conference on Belt and road International Cooperation on June 18, 2020.

In his opening remarks, the WHO chief said that two key ingredients both for overcoming the pandemic and for supporting the global recovery are national unity and global solidarity.

"We cannot succeed in a divided world," said Tedros.

He expressed the appreciation of China's active assistance to and technical collaboration with other countries, including sending medical teams and supplies to many other countries, caring out technical cooperation, sharing its domestic experiences, and its commitment to sharing any vaccine it develops as a global good.

He said that President Xi Jinping's recent call for building community of common health for mankind is "very timely," and this call "echoes the opening lines of WHO’s constitution, which sets out a vision for a world in which all people attain the highest possible standard of health."

The WHO Chief also said that the Belt and Road Initiative has the potential to act as an accelerator for the achievement of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Health Silk Road, a facet of the Belt and Road Initiative, has the potential to support partnerships to contain COVID-19, to improve infrastructure and access to much needed health services including diagnostics, and treatment, to strengthen health systems under strain because of the COVID-19 pandemic.