Your Excellency Prime Minister Andrej Plenković,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
On behalf of WHO, I thank Prime Minister Plenković and the Croatian people for the gift of this powerful artwork dedicated to the legacy of Dr Andrija Štampar.
It was Dr Štampar who wrote the immortal words of our constitution, that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
And as President of the First World Health Assembly in 1948, Dr Štampar said this:
“Each country has its own peculiarities, and what may be good for one may not be so good for another.
“But one basic truth applies to all of them, and that is that every individual has a fundamental right to health.”
It is that right to health for which this Organization has been striving for three-quarters of a century.
His emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention and community participation was truly ahead of its time.
Seventy years later, we are still working every day to fulfil that vision.
We know this is not quick or easy. It takes time, it takes sustained political will, and it takes community participation and ownership – themes that Dr Štampar championed.
Today is a day to celebrate the legacy Dr Štampar left – not just in Croatia, not just in WHO, but in the lives of the men, women and children who continue to benefit today from his ideas and his work.
This statue is also dedicated to the life-saving contributions of millions of health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We thank Croatia for its work in the Assembly to improve the situation of health workers everywhere, and for its continuing global health leadership and support of WHO and multilateralism.
We honour Dr Štampar’s memory and remain committed to his ideals.
Hvala. I thank you.