The World Health Assembly just endorsed a resolution on COVID-19. In it, the international community calls for universal and equitable access to medication, vaccines and diagnostics. This is a great success and sends an important signal that our world is united in the fight against the coronavirus.

Over the last two days, the World Health Assembly once again clearly demonstrated how, in a globalised world, crises, too, are global. No virus pays heed to national borders. We’ll either get through this together – or not at all. With today’s decision, the international community has voted for ´together`. And I am confident that this is how we will beat the virus.

Together, we are underscoring the World Health Organization’s key role in global health management. The WHO must be strengthened, supported and even better equipped for the future. The resolution emphasises that what is called for right now is acute crisis management. In a next step, the WHO plans to conduct an independent evaluation of global response to COVID-19.

The resolution is based on an initiative put forward by the European Union and has the support of the entire World Health Assembly. I am particularly pleased about this. Despite all of last week’s challenges, we are seeing what defines the EU: We stand united, and we are living up to our responsibilities in this crisis – also beyond Europe’s borders.