SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS SUMMIT ON 9 MARCH 2022

Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid

Colleagues

Distinguished Delegates  

1.        The world is doing its best to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including previously unimaginable closures of borders, lockdowns, nationwide vaccination exercises, and unprecedented rapid development of vaccines and therapeutics.  Meanwhile, trillions have been spent to prop up local economies and healthcare systems, even as the costs in human lives and ill health accumulate.

2.             More than two years into the pandemic, the world has not yet emerged from the shadow of COVID-19.

3.        While the future development of the pandemic remains uncertain, what we are certain of is that we need a coordinated, multilateral international response to a crisis of such global scale and spread. We can never coordinate our actions as fast as a new variant will spread; but try we must.

4.             It is therefore only good sound sense to invest sufficiently and collectively in global transnational pandemic preparedness capabilities. We must not let the common good deteriorate to become a tragedy of the commons.

5.         One key area of pandemic preparedness is vaccine development and production. And this is where the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) plays an indispensable role in the global health architecture. Transnational issues such as research and development, and scaling up manufacturing and distribution capabilities and capacity for vaccines require increased collective financing and action.

6.             And that is why Singapore is contributing a total of 15 million US dollars for the next five years to CEPI, to support the goals laid out in its CEPI 2.0 strategy. Beyond this, Singapore also values and welcomes technical exchanges and collaborations with CEPI.

7.            COVID-19 reminded us once again of our interconnectedness, that all of humankind share a common destiny. All countries large or small have responsibilities to collectively rectify the longstanding under-investment in pandemic preparedness. We strongly urge all countries to contribute towards our common goal of a strengthened global health system, and emerge stronger together from the pandemic. 

8.             Thank you.