Statement by Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony On the occasion of his appointment as Vice Chair of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization

President of the Executive Board,

Board members,

Director-General and Staff of the WHO,

Excellencies,

On behalf of the Government and People of Guyana, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus and his team for their pioneering work, leadership and guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic.

This interim report and the technical update from the Executive Director is a testimony of how much has been accomplished in a relatively short period.

We thank you and your team.

Excellencies,

I also want to thank all of you for electing Guyana to serve in the position of Vice President to the Executive Board, and we look forward to working with all of you on a noble goal of creating access to better health for all humanity.

Excellencies,

We know that the road to ending this pandemic is a challenging one and that the months ahead will be filled with difficulties. Nevertheless, with what has already been accomplished, it gives us tremendous hope and optimism that our combined global efforts will prevail over this COVID-19 pandemic.

We remain grateful for the timely technical updates, the guidelines and the resources, which have helped us to strengthen and improve our country’s response to saving lives and livelihoods.

We are pleased that through the COVAX mechanism that 2 billion doses will be available, and we are delighted that GAVI through the COVAX AMC will be assisting several developing economies in accessing these vaccines. We are grateful for this innovation in creating better access to the most vulnerable.

Excellencies,

Guyana looks forward to the continued collaboration with the WHO and other partners as we work together to end this pandemic.

Thank you.