Yu Xuejun, vice-minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), speaks at the 148th session of the WHO Executive Board on Jan 18. [Photo/nhc.gov.cn]

The 148th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board was held on Jan 18 via video link. Yu Xuejun, vice-minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC), participated in the conference.

Yu said that the Chinese government has always given top priority to people's health and security and made every effort to promote regular COVID-19 prevention and control. He said that China will push forward cooperation in virus origin tracing with the WHO's expert team and hopes to advance the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries, calling for further collaboration and solidarity of the international community in a bid to build a global health community for all.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that all parties should ensure that key groups will be vaccinated as soon as possible. He also called for the support for the COVID-19 vaccine implementation plan to ensure fair and equitable vaccine allocation among developed and developing countries.

Tedros appealed to all the parties to increase public health system funding to elevate emergency response capability and to build a healthy, safe and fair world together.

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan presided over the conference. Over 500 representatives from WHO member states, related international organizations and non-governmental organizations attended the conference.