MOSCOW/DOHA, Mar 30World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that COVID-19 «absolutely» will not be the last pandemic, the likelihood of a new disease and the scale of losses depends on how people learn the lessons of the current pandemic. «It is absolutely certain that COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic. But the likelihood that it will happen and what losses it can bring if it happens — this is where we have influence. We must learn the lessons of this pandemic, «the head of WHO said during a speech at the World Government Summit .
WHO announced a decrease in the number of cases of COVID-19 in the world, he said, it is necessary to increase the local production of vaccines, especially in middle- and low-income countries, in order to strengthen their independence. In addition, it is necessary to invest in public health, and in particular in primary health care, to detect diseases at an early stage and prevent them, and to strengthen the global architecture for pandemic prevention and response. As he noted, COVID-19 demonstrated that the pandemic — this is much more than just a health crisis. “More than 6 million people have died, health systems have been destroyed, for the first time in this century we have seen an increase in the number of people living below the poverty line, although the pandemic is due to natural factors, it is exacerbated by globalization, climate change and insecurity,” he said. “In many countries, vaccines have helped curb the pandemic, save lives and protect health systems. However, more than 30% of the African population has not received a single dose of the vaccine, there is also no access to testing, it is clear that equity cannot be left to the forces of the market or be connected with the desires of donors,» Ghebreyesus concluded.
