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WHO to seek global certificate system, inspired by EU's Covid pass

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Agence France Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks to journalists during a press conference about the Global WHO on World Health Day and the organization" s="" anniversary="" at="" the="" WHO="" headquarters="" in="" April="" EPA-EFE="" MARTIAL="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/06/02/20230602-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-epa-efe.jpg"/><figcaption>Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks to journalists during a press conference about the Global WHO on World Health Day and the organization&#x27;s 75th anniversary at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 06 April 2023. <em>EPA-EFE/MARTIAL TREZZINI</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>GENEVA, Switzerland - The World Health Organization will use the European Union&#x27;s digital Covid pass as a basis for a global health certification system, according to a new partnership deal agreed Monday.</p><p>WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides signed what they described as a &quot;landmark&quot; agreement in Geneva.</p><p>&quot;The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the value of digital health solutions in facilitating access to health services,&quot; Tedros said at the signing ceremony.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/22/23/who-chief-hopes-for-historic-pandemic-accord">WHO chief hopes for &#x27;historic&#x27; pandemic accord</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/04/23/who-sets-out-future-covid-policy">WHO sets out future COVID policy</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/04/19/23/who-warns-covid-pandemic-still-volatile">WHO warns Covid pandemic still volatile</a></li></ul><p>He said the EU&#x27;s Covid certificate would now be transformed into &quot;a global public good&quot;, as a first step in the creation of a global digital health certification network.</p><p>The network will expand to include things like digitised international routine vaccination cards, he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/03/23/no-the-who-isnt-trying-to-grab-pandemic-lockdown-powers">No, the WHO isn&#x27;t trying to grab pandemic &#x27;lockdown powers&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>It will be aimed to help protect people from health threats, including possible future pandemics, and facilitate global mobility, the WHO and the EU said in a statement.</p><p>This &quot;will be an important part of our efforts to strengthen health systems and to support our member states to prepare better for the next epidemic or pandemic,&quot; Tedros said.</p><p>&quot;The network could also play a crucial role in cross-border humanitarian situations by ensuring people have access to their health records and credentials as they move across borders due to conflict, the climate crisis and other emergencies.&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;Privacy is key&#x27;</strong></div><p>The EU Covid certificate, made available on paper or digitally, has been used by travellers moving around inside the bloc to show their Covid vaccination or test status.</p><p>The most widely-used Covid certification system in the world is based on open-source technologies and standards, and allowed for the connection of non-EU countries with certificates issued according to the EU specifications.</p><p>The certificate &quot;showed our citizens the light at the end of the tunnel and protected at the same time public health amid the uncertainty of the pandemic&quot;, Kyriakides said at the signing ceremony.</p><p>&quot;And this EU success story quickly became a global standard,&quot; she said, pointing out that nearly 80 countries had already adopted the EU Covid certificate framework.</p><p>Tedros stressed that the new certificate system would be &quot;based on the principles of equity, innovation, transparency and data protection and privacy&quot;.</p><p>WHO will not have access to any underlying personal data, which would continue to be the exclusive domain of governments.</p><p>&quot;Privacy is key,&quot; Tedros said.</p><p>&quot;We will only maintain a directory of the public keys that can be used to verify the authenticity of a member state&#x27;s digital health records.&quot;</p><div><strong>nl/giv</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2606557" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The World Health Organization will use the European Union's digital Covid pass as a basis for a global health certification system, according to a new partnership deal agreed Monday.