Special Meeting 2024: Bridging the Health Gap

Keir Simmons: As salam alaikum. Well, the World Economic Forum in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, what a wonderful, wonderful thing and makes a change from mountains and snow. And I've had to leave the venue a few times just to experience not having to take 100 coats off and change my shoes before walking around. So, fabulous.

I love skiing but I I love sunbathing too. So what a pleasure. And for this panel, we're going to share with you some of the challenges around health, global health but we're also going to try and bring you some sunshine.

Let me introduce my esteemed panel. We have with us today the supervisor general, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, the prime minister of Pakistan, His Excellency, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and president of gender equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Anita Zaidi – an incredible panel.

And later, we'll have more distinguished guests joining us, including Bill Gates himself for a truly extraordinary news-making announcement, so please stick around to see that.

We want to let you know that if you want to Tweet or Instagram or TikTok – TikTok hasn't been banned yet, not here – if you want to then please use the hashtag #SpecialMeeting24.

Anyone in the audience who has children, I want you to think about your children now. And I have two daughters, Ilya and Ariana and when I think about them, my heart swells. I then think about losing one of them to polio or losing their ability to move limbs because of polio, because of something that we could eradicate, that we could remove from the world. We want to let you know that there are women right now working to make sure that doesn't happen to any mum and dad.

[Video playing]

Keir Simmons: And we'll hear from Anita Zaidi in a moment on why women's health is good for all of us and why it's still not being prioritized as it should be but let's begin our panel with Dr Tedros.

Dr Tedros, how do you envision global health priorities changing over the next few years? What are you excited about? And what are you worried about?

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Thank you. Maybe I would like to start from what you said, what I'm excited about, maybe I would start from there. And you spoke about polio. If there is one thing that excites me, it's about eradication of polio. We're very close, we're in the last lap. Of course the last mile, that's when we need to really put all our energy to, you know, to cross the finish line.

And I would like to use this opportunity for me to thank Bill Gates for his passion and commitment to this for many years now non-stop, continued. So I'm very grateful for that and also to Saudi and all partners actually for their commitment to polio eradication. So that's one thing that excites me and then the second one is, especially technology.

We have seen during COVID, for instance, in speeding up the development of vaccines and other tools, how technology is important and we see it in other areas as well. So, the use of technology, including AI, I think will change things and we hope will narrow the gaps that we see in terms of access to health services.

And then to the priorities of course, I think the SDGs still holds and we have to do everything to achieve the SDGs although you know we are off track in terms of SDGs. For instance, if you take access, some examples of good anecdotes with other mothers but you know, if I speak about children we have 4.9 million deaths of children every year. That's a lot. And especially there are 54 countries with more than 25 per 1,000 pledges, which are really far behind the SDG targets.

So the commitment to SDGs is saving lives, as you say, especially our children, SDGs in terms of our children in terms of the needless dying of mothers that Anita will say is very important. So in terms of priority, it has to be the SDGs.

Then two factors may be in the SDGs I would like to add is in terms of access and financial hardships – 4.9 billion people now as we speak do not have access to the essential services they need based on a certain quality to be provided and to be less financial hardship, accessing services that could improve some of the findings by the way.

So if we're talking about UHC [Universal Health Care] and access then the two factors are really important in regard to SDGs and our priorities. Of course, there are many other things that you know the world is doing. I don't want to go into details of those. But I think these two main measures though, the access and the finance, are really critical. And that means there is a need for political commitment to improve access and also to address the financial hardship that 2 billion people are facing.

Keir Simmons: So, making that clear link between the Sustainable Development Goals, the 4.9 billion people you talk about if you're going to tackle what you could call the global health crisis, that's where you have to pay attention. That's where it really matters.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Exactly. That's where we should we should really focus.

Keir Simmons: Prime Minister Sharif, let's talk about your country as a specific example, in the face of the global health threat Dr Tedros just alluded to. Can you talk about the systematic challenges you've negotiated when it comes to social and health systems? What lessons do you think we can learn from your country's experience?

But I just want to point out to the audience that you were chief, not just prime minister of Pakistan, of course but also you were chief minister for Punjab for a very long time tackling dengue, another real challenge.

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif: Yes, thank you very much. Let me start from my personal example. In 2003 in this very country, when I was a guest of people of Saudi Arabia, I was in exile. I was struck by a very nasty cancer – adenocarcinoma. And I was flown to New York and Sloan Kettering. I was operated upon, I had hemicolectomy, it was in the appendix, and I had to pay at that point in time thousands of dollars from my pocket and I wondered how many people in my country can afford this kind of expensive treatment? And I said, not very many.

Well, when I came back, mercifully, I had lease of life. So, came back to Pakistan and I was elected chief minister of Punjab and we built hospitals, dealing with kidney, liver cancer both by the government's, various governments and planned with us. Without going into details, that is the point at issue today, I think the first and foremost problem is global inequities.

Now, look at COVID. It exposed these imbalances, gaps hugely. Imagine Global North and Global South, distribution of vaccines and so on so forth.

Two, climate change, has completely changed the landscape. Pakistan does not contribute even a fraction of emissions. Yet, we are on the list, red list of climate change. And in 2022, we experienced the worst climate change floods in Pakistan, devastating everything from hospitals, schools, lands, agriculture, everything and we had to invest hundreds of billions of rupees to rehabilitate people.

But when it came to the question of seeking funds from abroad, though those are loans, expensive loans, can a developing country afford that?

Three, if you want to use your meagre resources to provide access to decent healthcare to the people, wherever there's a will, there's a way, that's my belief and as chief minister of Punjab, I, by the grace of God was able to provide in the far northern border of my province – it's a province of 14 million people – wonderful hepatitis facilities in every remote area of the province, provided with CT scans all over the province for people who are very in dire need of providing food and education to children. Cannot waste time.

So, I provided CT scans in their areas, which the report uploaded, brought to big centres of Punjab. And then the expert would look at that and send back the report in the evening and they will get medical facilities.

Three, I was able to, by the grace of God, build one of the finest hospital for kidney and liver in Lahore, which is probably the best in South Asia. And, you know, poor people going to India, to China, expensive treatment. We offered them in Lahore, saving very very scarce foreign exchange and getting them free treatment for poor and we were charged who are rich and this combination of cross-subsidy, we were able to provide facilities to the people.

And then dengue, in 2011, it struck Pakistan and most of all, it struck the city of Lahore and he would – bear me out – this dengue outbreak was probably the biggest around the globe. I have to confess here and in front of this ... assembly I didn't know much about dengue, believe me. We collected experts. And then, you know, from six in the morning till late night, I would have meetings.

It was the entire government and civil society philanthropists, experts. And common man, we all got them together. We went for lava, went for, these brigades would go out and that's fine whereas in a lava and trying to furnish them through modern techniques, it was a challenge of sorts. I got machines thrown by aircraft and placed in hospitals and actually used reestablished in all hospitals and I, through law, through a decree, you know, made it, you know, all laboratories responsible to provide these dengue tests at a very meagre cost.

And that's how we were able to control dengue. And that's an extraordinary thing. Just 30 seconds. ...They gave me a flashing sign that "Chief Minister, this year, you will have deaths amounting to thousands of people" and I was dead scared. I couldn't sleep that night. But, mercifully, to this collective efforts, only 250 people died. And next year, there were then dengue patients know that in Punjab.

Keir Simmons: One hundred million people? More than 100 million people, in Punjab.

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif: One hundred and 40 million.

Keir Simmons: A hundred and 40 million.

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif: And that became a test case around the globe, a study. I think, this is how we can, you know, achieve results through meagre sources. But that does not mean that the yawning gap between Global North and Global South should not be arrested.

Keir Simmons: And I think what you've done there is really emphasized the on-the-ground work that you need. But of course, you also need finances that, Your Excellency Dr Rabeeah, let me embarrass you a little bit by just pointing out the important role the Kingdom has played through the pandemic and chair of the G20 when it made significant contributions to funding new vaccines through support to the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations and making sure those vaccines are accessible to the most vulnerable communities in the world, to GAVI, the vaccine alliance.

KS Relief and the Kingdom has done extraordinary things. How has that impacted health outcomes across the world and what more needs to be done. I just wanted to ask His Excellency Dr Rabeeah, that question.

Abdullah Al Rabeeah: Well, thank you, Keir. And As salam alaikum, everybody.

What has been actually learned during COVID-19 is something that all of us should be careful with that we don't repeat the mistakes that has happened because of the inequity and access and all of the challenges that has made us and we know that it's very important that we should have a global coordinated response.

We should have a global strategy, who should also have a very good communicated health system and also decrease the funding gap to support health facilities. Let me start with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has done many actually efficient programmes, starting with the local programmes, regional and global. Local programme and in front of me, efficient minister of health, my friend Fahad Jalajel​, they have done very effective programmes whether with digitalization, whether with the access to care, access to vaccination, access to diagnostics, including illegal migrants that have received the full care in Saudi Arabia.

This programme has represented a local model that has been transported regionally and globally. At a global level, Saudi Arabia has been one of the instrumental supporter of, as you mentioned Keir, CEPI, for the vaccination industry and other initiatives. We have also supported the equity of vaccine distribution through GAVI and COVAX initiative. And also we have been doing a bilateral work at regional level.

More than 26 countries has received immediate support to support their health systems in the region and beyond. We have invested more than 900 million US dollars to support those countries and ensure that they have a very solid healthcare system. However, is that enough for the world? That's not enough.

If we are going to face God forbid another pandemic, we should be ready to improve our global coordination process. We should also revisit our strategy at a global level and in addition, that the funding gap, which is widening now and we have heard the other two speakers clearly, should be improved by supporting. How can we increase that?

I will call this meeting, we have politicians, we have media, I think the conflict that has happening in the world are expanding and increasing. And these are consuming all of the funds for the health system. I call upon all of the politicians and influencers to follow the example of Saudi Arabia by mediating peace-solving processes to ensure that we save the money to help communities in need and I'll stop here.

Keir Simmons: Thank you. The point was made by the prime minister very clearly, I think, that by investing, you actually save money. You spend more money if you don't invest. So again, thank you for your contribution.

Anita Zaidi. We saw that extraordinary video, really telling us about the work that, what really struck me was the work of individual women, in communities, with individual relationships. Studies have shown that investing in women's health is in everyone's best interest. Yet we still see big gaps in funding, research resources that needed to ensure women lead healthy lives. What's holding us back and what solutions hold the most promise to close this gap.

Anita Zaidi: Thanks Keir. As salam alaikum everyone. So well, let me comment on the video first and then I'll get to your women's health gap question.

So, what you saw in that sort of video in the opening plenary is the critical role that women play in the global health service delivery, whether it's eradication, whether it's routine health service delivery, giving vaccines out during COVID.

The system relies on women, health women female workforce. And until recently, we haven't done, as a global community, a good job of understanding what are the issues that women in the frontline health workforce – which is actually now 70% of the global health workforce is women – what are the issues they face that helps them not deliver what we we are looking for, such as getting polio vaccines to every child in remote areas, hard-to-reach areas.

And so, I've been very happy to see that the polio programme has actually taken a lead in this, both at the global level and Pakistan and there is a national gender working group that looks at OK, how can you improve working conditions to attract and understand what's happening at the ground so that women can do what we are expecting them to do in the follow up campaigns.

And so series of workshops and national surveys and you know, things that turned up were really interesting. Like, for example, no access to toilets during the whole working day was really hampering their efforts. Harassment. Not having ID cards that they could show that they were actually part of the official government response to polio. And so now co-designing solutions with women, frontline women health workers is really leading to a much better quality of campaign.

So that's kind of what you see from that video, how women taking women's ideas on board can really improve a lot of inequities that you see.

Now, why is women's health such a, focusing on women's health such a critical issue in general? So you talked about the health gap and it's actually a very under-invested area of global health and a very under-invested area of global pharma R&D [research and development]. And this under-investment then results in some really startling statistics.

So, for example, Dr Tedros talked about child mortality, like 4.9 million children are dying every year. Now, that's huge progress over the last 20, 25 years, even though more children are being born, child mortality has been cut in half. So we made huge progress in maternal mortality during the MDG era but in the last 10 years we have made no progress – 400,000 women are still dying from pregnancy and delivery-related complications every year.

Keir Simmons: That's so disappointing. So why is that?

Anita Zaidi: Yeah, so the reason is under-investment in both R&D and innovations for women and then under-investment in the health systems. And addressing both of these is critical. And there's lots of things that we can do.

So, for example, I'll give you the postpartum haemorrhage example, which is the most common reason that women die during childbirth. Until recently, the gold standard for diagnosing if a woman was having excessive bleeding was that you would eyeball the amount of blood that was on the floor, OK, and say, OK, this looks too much and maybe I should do something.

We invested in a very simple drape, a calibrated drape that is a plastic drape that has a sleeve at the end of it, a pocket that can collect the blood and tell you if it's above a certain threshold. And just doing that simple innovation resulted in a lot of life saved during the study and then rolling this out could save hundreds of thousands of lives.

So, it's actually lots of now new innovations coming up that are online ready to roll out. The plastic drape is one. We now have, you know something as simple as a single injection of IV iron, given during pregnancy can cure anaemia during pregnancy. AI-enabled ultrasound that can be used by frontline health workers will really revolutionize antenatal care and primary health care settings.

So, there's a lot of these things that we can do if we have the investment both on the innovation side and on the delivery side to really make a difference.

Keir Simmons: So in a simplistic sense, what I've learned from you is that we are trying to put together a jigsaw of the money and really good ideas, sometimes simple ideas and work on the ground that I saw from women in that video.

Anita Zaidi: If I can mention two initiatives that I'm really excited about. One is that we had the good fortune to launch a new alliance for the Global Alliance for Women's Health at WEF in January that brings together multiple stakeholders from around the world, private sector, industry, public sector, to see what we can do for women's health.

And the other is the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, which has been very generously supported for many years by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which is now looking at how do we incorporate the gender lens into a lot of their investing, so that we do not see the issue, that we can address the issues that we are talking about.

Keir Simmons: Thank you. Thank you very much. We are running out of time, unfortunately, for this part of the session. Yes, please, Prime Minister. We have, I'll give you a minute to solve the world's health problems.

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif: There's no doubt that King Salman's Foundation is doing a terrific job and providing all sort of help to suffering humanity. My deep ... to my brother and close His Majesty. It is a wonderful job being done. And then of course on polio, Pakistan is a direct beneficiary of Bill Gates Foundation. And it's done a remarkable job over there.

Of course, 50 million vaccines every year. And I think if I did not acknowledge the Gates' generosity here, it is, I think, I will not be fair to myself and fair to them. Despite 2012 floods, which you know, washed away, you know, large swaths of land, with great difficulty, we're able to vaccine children. I think this cooperation goes, I think one day soon, we'll be over the hump.

Keir Simmons: Prime Minister, that is so hopeful. Thank you and let's just take, we've got less than a minute Dr Tedros but I couldn't have you on the stage without asking you that question. And you're gonna not thank me for asking you in a short time to answer an impossible question.

Do we have the capability to ensure that we don't see another pandemic the like of which we saw while you were leading the World Health Organization?

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Yeah, I think the answers to that is we're unprepared and we're still vulnerable to the same problem. But the good news is, based on the lessons learned, we are building something. For instance, we're trying to address the surveillance by building a collaborative intelligence and a mechanism to share pathogens so that can be used for research and development.

And for countries who have potential, they are moving into production of the tools to address the equity problems. And there is a pandemic fund now created. World Bank is running it and WHO is part of the secretariat. And there are many other initiatives that have started.

This is really important but the key is how can we have a binding political agreement that member states would respect, so, if anything happens first of all, the best is to prevent it and that's why we're building the capacity. But we need to have a binding agreement in order to prevent or to detect and respond in a better way.

Keir Simmons: So, that's what you're hoping for this year.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Exactly. So, as we speak, member states have negotiated.

Keir Simmons: Yes.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: And I have been following the negotiation. And I'm hopeful that by May 2024, that will be added and that will help us to remember and prevent the same thing like COVID from happening.

But one thing I'd like to underline is – three seconds, 30 seconds – that there is a question that's asked many times – who has done well during this point. As a group, the Mekong region did better. And the reason for that is they had muscle memory from 2003, SARS.

Now, I think the whole world has the muscle memory and hope they will use all their experience to prepare. Especially the preparation in the capacity at country-level is the most important to prepare them and prevent the same thing from happening in the future. Because the whole world has a muscle memory.

Keir Simmons: A television reporter like me is constantly being told by producers to wrap so it's, there's some enjoyment in having to do that to somebody else. But that's such an important message. Dr Tedros, thank you very much.

Excuse us. Now we're going to have a little choreography. Please don't leave. The best part is coming. A news making announcement is coming but I'm going to ask you Dr Tedros, Prime Minister Sharif and Anita Zaidi to leave the stage while we prepare for the next part of this presentation.

[Short intermission]

Keir Simmons: Thank you, gentlemen, we now have a really special announcement to make, a really news-making moment. The world has made incredible progress towards one of the most ambitious global health goals: the eradication of polio. But until the virus has gone completely, every child remains at risk.

Today, Saudi Arabia and the Gates are making an announcement that will help protect 370 million children annually from polio and lift millions out of poverty.

We'll hear more on this announcements from His Excellency Dr Al Rabeeah the supervisor general of KS Relief, His Excellency Fahad Al-Jalajel, the minister of health for Saudi Arabia and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. First, can I ask you to give a presentation, Your Excellency Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah?

Abdullah Al Rabeeah: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt that by strengthening global health planning and cooperation, we can improve health outcomes and save lives. The number and severity of the crisis in the world compels us to reach for innovative means to help all countries to meet their health challenges more immediately and also more effectively.

Today's theme of redefining the global health agenda could not be more appropriate or more important. Firstly, we must ensure that sufficient financial resources are available to support health systems of developing countries, epidemics, infectious diseases and the destruction of health infrastructures due to conflicts and natural disasters can erode the ability of the country's health system to provide even the most basic care.

The global donor support list must be widened to include non-traditional donors, including more the private sector contributions and public donation campaigns. Improving the access and also affordability of developing countries to the latest innovations and technologies is also equally essential. And our healthcare training and also capacity building.

When health care providers and also administrators have the knowledge and the skills they need to create and maintain robust medical sector, everyone will benefit.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains committed to the global health and also is a leading donor and also aid provider. Since 2015, KS Relief has implemented more than 1,125 very important health projects on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to more than 64 countries with a total budget exceeding 1.4 billion US dollars.

KS Relief on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia values its ongoing partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as we work together to eradicate polio and strive to ensure that every child has access to life-saving vaccine.

We are pleased today to announce that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by KS Relief, is signing a joint cooperation programme with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in order to find out to help in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and also the second round of the Life and Livelihoods programme managed by the Islamic bank.

This programme will help more than 370 billion people mostly children and women. Let me pause here, to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and their co-partners.

Saudi Arabia encourages every country to contribute by all possible means to strengthen the global health system. It is up to us to purchase, up to all of us to ensure that the future of humanity is healthy and hopeful to everybody. Thank you.

Keir Simmons: Thank you very much. Now can I invite the Minister of Health Saudi Arabia Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel​ to address us.

​Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel​: Thank you, Excellency Abdullah. Your Highnesses, Excellencies, distinguished guests, it is with a great honour and gratitude that I address you.

I will come in this close session for the insightful and thought provoking session on bridging the global health gap. I would like to thank this team's panellist for the critical discussion on bridging the global health gap, which has shed light on the pressing challenges of global health.

As we look ahead, the prospect of change brings excitement and in the same time brings concern when discussing global health challenges. The looming threat of climate-related health issues underscores the need for proactive measures to safeguard against future challenges. Based on past experiences, it is imperative that we coordinate our global response mechanism to mitigate the impact of pandemics and emergencies.

National coordination is also vital in overcoming these challenges. In Saudi Arabia, we have established a platform for effective cross-sectorial collaboration by launching ministerial committee for health in all policies. This committee brings together various sectors to collectively work toward enhancing the health of our nation by integrating health, equity and sustainability into all decision-making processes.

Ladies and gentlemen, our stride toward polio eradication signify not only progress but also hope for the healthier future. Achieving polio-free planet would be monumental success and a testament to global collaboration. In this context, Saudi Arabia's pivotal role and region and globally shows the leadership in action to declaring the world free from polio.

Ladies and gentlemens, humanity faces many other global public health threats and anti-microbial resistance AMR stands out as a silent pandemic. Therefore, to bridge this gap and to address this critical issue, I would like to take this opportunity to extend the invitation to you all to attend the fourth high-level ministerial conference on AMR, which will take place on the 15th and 16th of November in Saudi Arabia.

This conference will be titled "From Declaration to Implementation," focusing on accelerating action. Let us all remain committed to creating a healthier, more resilient world for future generation. And remember, this investment toward health isn't just a good to have. It is a strategic imperative to thriving, more resilient for futures together.

On a final note, it is my pleasure with great excitement to announce our partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We will shortly sign a memo of understanding between the Ministry of Health and the foundation that signify strategic collaboration between both entities. Thank you.

Keir Simmons: Minister, thank you very much. And now it's my pleasure to introduce the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates.

Bill Gates: Well, good morning, Your Excellencies, dear guests. In my life, I've been very lucky to participate in two major revolutions – relatively short periods of time when impossible dreams became global realities.

The first was almost 50 years ago when Paul Allen and I started Microsoft. We had a dream that the computer would be a great tool for everyone. Many people thought that was impossible. After all, there were almost no personal computers in existence back in 1975 but we were determined to make it happen because we thought a world where everyone had that tool would be a fantastic innovation. And now, we've achieved that. Computers not just on every desk but in almost every pocket.

But as amazing as that was, I'd say the second revolution to me is almost more amazing. It was 25 years ago, when I was finishing my full-time career at Microsoft and starting my full-time career in philanthropy. In the year 2000, 9.9 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday. I remember learning that number and finding it hard to believe, especially because I just become a new father. Why were millions of kids dying from preventable causes, like diarrhoea and pneumonia?

In fact, vaccines existed for most of these deaths and yet we weren't getting them out. To the world's children. Back then, the idea of cutting child mortality in half in less than a generation seemed far-fetched but it was done by 2022.

The number of kids who died before the age of five was down to 4.9 million. This is a result of a remarkable effort to improve vaccines, drugs and other tools and most importantly, deliver them to the children who needed them all over the world. But of course, we all see this 4.9 million number as something we need to reduce further. So we have a remarkable human achievement but still, further to go.

Of course, our goal should be to cut that number in half again and I believe we can do it. In fact, I believe the potential to enhance children's well-being goes even beyond mere survival. We can get rid of this disease polio that historically paralysed hundreds of thousands of children every year. Protecting children's health seldom stems from a single innovation. It typically requires the synergy of a number of tools and collective work.

And we know when it comes to delivering better outcomes for children eradicating polio is going to be critical, not only because it saves lives and prevents misery but because it imagines a world where we can be free of all diseases and it chose the power of partnership and coming together to make that happen. It was 1988 when the goal of Polio Eradication Initiative started thanks to the hard work of partners like Rotary, health workers and disease surveillance officers.

While polio cases have fallen by over 99%. Over 20 million kids have been spared being paralysed by this virus. Today, wild polio is endemic that is, it's never been eliminated in just two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I've had a chance to visit the operation centres in Islamabad and learn about the hundreds and thousands of workers who are working to protect children.

Every day, polio workers and volunteers pour over data and perform outreach to communities to get the polio vaccine to every child. These workers are tireless and because of them, only two cases of wild polio have been recorded in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan so far this year.

The world is very close to eradicating one of the most preventable threats humanity has ever faced. But it's not done until we get to zero. It can spread back to where it was before, so we can't afford to slow down or we will risk unravelling decades of progress.

We have the tools, we have the strategies and now we need the partnerships and the vision. Fortunately, this is coming together. In fact, today is a totally critical day in making this happen. I want to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, His Excellencies Dr Al-Rabeeah and His Excellency Al-Jalajel for their generous contribution today. They are working with us to make this dream a reality.

The new commitment will deliver vaccines, measles immunizations and other health services to 370 million children. It's an investment in the future of children around the globe and in strengthening health systems. We saw over the last four years how important primary health care is. It was really these systems that allowed us to limit the spread of COVID. And these investments are paying dividends for many diseases.

That's why it's so encouraging to see not only Saudi Arabia but many other countries, including the United Arab Emirates come together to increase their support for global health. The Lives and Livelihood Fund managed by the Islamic Development Bank is a fantastic example of this. It's a very well-run programme that lifts people out of poverty across the more than 30 member countries of the bank. So it's inspiring to see the region with leadership from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at this pivotal moment addressing tough challenges.

Throughout this forum, we've heard how global cooperation, collaboration is the key. I look forward to our new partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, collaborating not just to end polio but to ensure a safe and healthy cause pilgrimage to build new vaccine capacity to better respond to urgent humanitarian crises and fortify the world against future pandemics.

We know that losing 4.9 million children each year is about a lot more than just a number. It's about millions of kids not reaching their full potential. It's also the ripple effect that better health for more people kicks off – less poverty, improved education and resilient economies. The stakes are very high.

So, I want to thank everyone who's stepping up to this historic opportunity. Thank you for building on the progress we've made. And thank you for your commitment to realizing a better future. Thank you.

Keir Simmons: Bill Gates and Dr Al-Jalajel and His Excellency, Dr Al-Rabeeah. Thank you both. Thank you all very much. And I want to invite the prime minister of Pakistan and the director general of WHO and the president of gender equality at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to come back to the stage for photographs. Thank you very much, everybody.