Coming months critical for future pandemic preparedness: WHO chief

Although the COVID-19 caseload stabilized past week, aft astir 2 months of increases, the level remains high, said WHO main Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus, speaking during his regular property briefing from Geneva. 

Cases person surpassed 4.5 cardinal globally, with 68,000 deaths. 

“Some regions and countries proceed to spot steep increases successful cases and deaths, portion others are declining,” helium reported. “As agelong arsenic this microorganism is circulating anywhere, it’s a menace everywhere”. 

Preparing for aboriginal pandemics 

WHO is progressing connected plans to fortify planetary defence against aboriginal epidemics and pandemics, Tedros said. 

He pointed retired that with the UN General Assembly successful September, followed by the G20 Summit successful October, and a peculiar league of WHO’s governing assemblage acceptable for November, the adjacent 3 months correspond “a captious play for shaping the aboriginal of pandemic preparedness and response”. 

Last month, a high-level autarkic sheet established by the G20 published its report, which is being discussed now. 

COVID-19 is not “a one-off disaster”, warned the panel’s co-chair, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore, who besides addressed the WHO briefing. 

“What is wide is that planetary wellness information is dangerously underfunded,” helium said.  “We are consequently susceptible to a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, with repeated waves affecting each countries, and we are besides susceptible to aboriginal pandemics. We tin hole this.” 

The study outlines 3 priorities, starting with strengthening WHO.  It besides calls for repurposing the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and different multilateral improvement banks, truthful that they tin assistance countries during mean times and speedy effect whenever a pandemic emerges. 

For the planetary good 

The sheet has besides projected the instauration of a Global Health Threats Fund to mobilize $10 cardinal annually, and constitution of a caller governance mechanics that brings unneurotic fiscal and wellness decision-makers. 

“The corporate investments required arsenic portion of this woody are affordable.  They volition assistance america debar blundering into pandemics again and again,” said Mr. Shanmugaratnam. 

“We person to proceed with urgency.  It would beryllium economically and politically myopic, and morally indefensible, to defer the corporate actions and investments that are successful some the planetary involvement and the nationalist self-interests everywhere.”