Global health diplomacy is what links health and international relations to address health security. It was this diplomacy that delivered political commitments from many corners of the world to push for COVID-19 medicines and essentials, the development of new partnerships and initiatives, and the creation of COVAX the global scheme to vaccinate people in lower-income countries and ACT-Accelerator, dubbed the fastest, most coordinated and successful global effort in history to develop tools to fight a disease .

Health diplomacy

n increasing number of health challenges can no longer be resolved at the technical level only – they require political negotiations and solutions, and often need to involve a wide range of actors. Health diplomacy takes place at many levels. Global health diplomacy focuses on those health issues that need the cooperation of many countries to address issues of common concern, but health diplomacy can also play a central role at the regional, bilateral and national level.

With the growing frequency of global health threats, this world family must come together and engage in more effective health diplomacy. We must ensure greater collaboration not just to end this pandemic but on an array of other health-related issues. These include expanding the public health capacity of nations, particularly by enhancing their access to relevant technology and knowledge.

Let us all agree: Financing pandemic preparedness is a soundinvestment–and we all benefit fromthe returns.

The concept of global development should not only be green and accessible socio-economic development, but also there is an emerging need that it needs to be formulated in deep consideration of healthandhealth diplomacy.Moreover, there isa pressing need in health sector to improve risk management, preparedness, investment, promotionof public-private partnership, and expediatedpenetrationof high technology and innovation.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a historic testfor our generation. How we respondtoday, both individually and collectively, will greatly shape the world of generations to come.Croatia is pleased to have been able to co-coordinate,with Afghanistan, the resolutiononthe“Comprehensive and coordinated response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”, which not only set the stagefor ourrecovery, but also for building back better.The resolution also recognizes the value of an integrated “One Health approach”.By better understanding the health relatedinterlinkages of humans, animalsand our ecosystem, we stand a better chance at tacklingantimicrobial resistance, as well as preventingand containinganother major zoonotic disease outbreak.I think we all share in the aspirationsofa comprehensive, multi-sectoral engagement instrengtheningnational, regional and global capacities, as well as society’s overall resilience to a future pandemic.

Establishing legal standards and assuring compliance is a fundamental part of an effective multilateral cooperative response. This is why Croatia activelyadvocatesthe“Pandemic Preparedness and Response Agreement”.