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STORY: WHO / TEDROS PRESSER
TRT: 4:05
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 01 NOVEMBER 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1.Wide shot, press briefing room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“So far, more than 50,000 people have been vaccinated against mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, thanks to donations from the United States and the European Commission.”
3. Wide shot, press briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“Last month, WHO, the Africa CDC, CEPI, Gavi and UNICEF established an Access and Allocation Mechanism – the AAM – to support equitable and timely access to mpox vaccines. This week, the AAM has allocated almost 900 thousand doses of vaccine to nine countries, based on public health need – especially those with significant transmission of clade 1b virus.”
5. Wide shot, press briefing room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“This is the first allocation of almost six million vaccine doses that we expect to be available by the end of 2024.”
7. Wide shot, press briefing room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“This is an important step towards bringing the mpox outbreaks under control, as part of WHO and the Africa CDC’s shared strategic response plan. It’s important to underscore that vaccination is only one part of that plan, alongside case finding, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, clinical care, risk communication and testing.”
9. Wide shot, press briefing room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“UNRWA is the largest providers of essential health services in Gaza, providing critical health and humanitarian support for over seven decades. Every day, it provides thousands of medical consultations and vaccinates hundreds of children.”
11. Wide shot, press briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“Many humanitarian partners rely on UNRWA’s logistical networks to get supplies into Gaza, and onward to where they are needed.”
13. Wide shot, press briefing room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“Israel’s decision to restrict UNRWA’s operations contravenes Israel’s obligations under international law and jeopardizes the lives and health of all who depend on these essential services.”
15. Wide shot, press briefing room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“This ban will not make Israel safer, it will only deepen the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the risk of disease outbreaks.”
17. Wide shot, press briefing room
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
“Let me be clear: There is simply no alternative to UNRWA.”
19. Wide shot, press briefing room
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative, occupied Palestinian territory:
“We currently have a humanitarian pause necessary to conduct a campaign. However, the area which this pause is covering has substantially been reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in northern Gaza. It's mainly limited to the broader Gaza City.”
21. Wide shot, press briefing room
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative, occupied Palestinian territory:
“We estimate that, approximately 15,000 children under ten years in the towns of north Gaza like Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun still remain inaccessible and will be missed during the campaign, so this is not an ideal campaign, I want to stress that; it's a compromised campaign and to interrupt polio virus transmission, you want to get at least 90% of the children in every community.”
23. Wide shot, press briefing room
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative, occupied Palestinian territory:
“There were three partly functional hospitals in the north of Gaza. Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, Indonesian. Indonesian is currently not functional anymore. It's not functional and is damaged. Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda are minimal functional.”
25. Wide shot, press briefing room
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative, occupied Palestinian territory:
“It is critically important that these hospitals remain functional. They need and deserve all the support they can get.”
27. Wide shot, press briefing room
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “so far, more than 50,000 people have been vaccinated against mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, thanks to donations from the United States and the European Commission.”
The Director-General spoke to reporters today (01 Nov) in Geneva.
Tedros said, “Last month, WHO, the Africa CDC, CEPI, Gavi and UNICEF established an Access and Allocation Mechanism – the AAM – to support equitable and timely access to mpox vaccines. This week, the AAM has allocated almost 900 thousand doses of vaccine to nine countries, based on public health need – especially those with significant transmission of clade 1b virus.”
The Director-General also said, “This is the first allocation of almost six million vaccine doses that we expect to be available by the end of 2024.”
“This is an important step towards bringing the mpox outbreaks under control, as part of WHO and the Africa CDC’s shared strategic response plan,” Tedros said.
He underscored that vaccination is “only one part of that plan, alongside case finding, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, clinical care, risk communication and testing.”
Moving onto UNRWA, the Director-General said, “UNRWA is the largest providers of essential health services in Gaza, providing critical health and humanitarian support for over seven decades. Every day, it provides thousands of medical consultations and vaccinates hundreds of children.”
“Many humanitarian partners rely on UNRWA’s logistical networks to get supplies into Gaza, and onward to where they are needed,” he reiterated.
Tedros continued, “Israel’s decision to restrict UNRWA’s operations contravenes Israel’s obligations under international law and jeopardizes the lives and health of all who depend on these essential services.”
He added, “This ban will not make Israel safer, it will only deepen the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the risk of disease outbreaks.”
The Director-General stressed, “Let me be clear: There is simply no alternative to UNRWA.”
WHO’s Dr Richard Peeperkorn also spoke to reporters.
He said, “We currently have a humanitarian pause necessary to conduct a campaign. However, the area which this pause is covering has substantially been reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in northern Gaza. It's mainly limited to the broader Gaza City.”
Peeperkorn estimated “approximately 15,000 children under ten years in the towns of north Gaza like Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun still remain inaccessible and will be missed during the campaign, so this is not an ideal campaign, I want to stress that; it's a compromised campaign and to interrupt polio virus transmission, you want to get at least 90 percent of the children in every community.”
The WHO Representative said, “There were three partly functional hospitals in the north of Gaza. Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, Indonesian. Indonesian is currently not functional anymore. It's not functional and is damaged. Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda are minimal functional.”
He reiterated, “It is critically important that these hospitals remain functional. They need and deserve all the support they can get.”
