The World Health Organization (WHO) will use the European Union’s Covid digital certificate to launch a global digital certification scheme, thanks to a “landmark” partnership signed on Monday.
The director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, signed this “historic initiative to strengthen global health security” in Geneva.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the importance of digital health solutions to facilitate access to health services,” explained the WHO leader during the signing ceremony.
The WHO director also specified that the European pass would become a “global public good.” This future global digital certification system should, according to a press release from the WHO and the European Commission, “help facilitate mobility and protect citizens around the world against current and future health threats, including pandemics”. .
“Prepare better for the next epidemic”
The WHO device represents the first building block of the organization’s global digital health certification network, which aims to develop “a wide range of digital products to improve the health of all,” such as international vaccination cards. digital.
“(This network) will be an important part of our efforts to strengthen health systems and help our Member States better prepare for the next epidemic or pandemic,” said Dr. Tedros.
“The network could also play a crucial role in cross-border humanitarian situations by ensuring that people have access to their medical records when crossing borders due to conflict, climate crisis or other emergency situations,” he observed.
The EU health pass is already the most widespread in the world. “With 80 countries and territories connected to the EU’s Covid-19 digital certificate, the EU has set a global standard,” said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner responsible, in particular, for digital.
No access to personal data for WHO
Thierry Breton also added that “the European certificate has not only been an important tool in our fight against the pandemic, but it has also facilitated international travel and tourism.”
For his part, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that the future global digital certification system would be “based on the principles of equity, innovation, transparency, and data protection and privacy.”
WHO will not have access to personal data, to which only the authorities will have access. “Privacy protection is essential,” argued Dr. Tedros, although the WHO will be able to verify the authenticity of certificates.
Source: BFM TV
