According to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, the world needs to be ready for a virus that is “even deadlier” than Covid, which has reportedly killed at least 20 million people, according to The Independent. The Covid-19 pandemic is no longer a health emergency, according to the global health organisation.
Dr. Tedros stated at the organization’s annual health meeting in Geneva that it was time to move the pandemic-prevention talks forward. The WHO director raised the alarm that the Covid-19 pandemic is still very much alive and well during a meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
The possibility of a new variant causing new outbreaks of illness and fatalities still exists, according to Tedros. “And the possibility of yet another pathogen emerging with even greater potential for death persists.”
He issued a dire warning, saying that nation states could not “kick this can down the road” and that the next pandemic would “come knocking” on their doors.
Nine priority diseases that pose the greatest threat to public health have been identified by the WHO. According to the Daily Mail, they were considered to be the most dangerous due to a lack of treatment or their potential to start a pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic, the worst health crisis in a century, caught everyone off guard and unprepared, he was quoted as saying by The Mirror.
Our world has been turned upside down by Covid-19 over the last three years. The reported death toll is close to seven million, but we know the real number is at least 20 million.
Who will implement the necessary changes if we don’t? And when will we make them, if not now? he asked during the annual health assembly.
He stated that we need to be prepared to respond decisively, collectively, and fairly when the next pandemic strikes, which it will.
This generation must make a commitment to the pandemic accord because they are the ones who have firsthand knowledge of how terrible a small virus can be, according to Dr. Tedros.
The WHO’s announcement comes just four months after China lifted its extensive restrictions on the zero-Covid policy and experienced a significant spike in infections.
