Deadlier than Covid-19: WHO warns about the next pandemic
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After warning that Covid-19 is far from over—in fact, it is threatening China once again with a new Omicron subvariant, XBB—the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the next pandemic “with even deadlier potential” than Covid-19, according to the media reports on Wednesday.
When Covid cases are somewhat stabilizing around the world, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, issued a warning that the world must get ready for the next pandemic, which might be “even deadlier” than the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The end of Covid-19 as a global health emergency is not the end of Covid-19 as a global health threat,” he said while presenting his report to the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains.”
Also, in the face of overlapping and converging crises, “pandemics are far from the only threat we face,” he said, underscoring the need for effective global mechanisms that address and respond to emergencies of all kinds.
“When the next pandemic comes knocking–and it will–we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively, and equitably,” Dr. Tedros advised.
He said Covid-19 had significant implications for health-related targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have a deadline of 2030.
The pandemic also affected progress toward the Triple Billion targets, announced at the 2017 World Health Assembly.
The five-year initiative calls for ensuring one billion more people have universal health coverage, a billion more are better protected from health emergencies, and another billion more enjoy better health and well-being.
“The pandemic has blown us off course, but it has shown us why the SDGs must remain our north star, and why we must pursue them with the same urgency and determination with which we countered the pandemic,” he said while emphasizing the need to prioritize negotiations aimed at preventing future pandemics.
“The world was taken by surprise and found unprepared for the Covid-19 pandemic, the most severe health crisis in a century,” he said.
“We cannot kick this can down the road, the WHO chief said, warning that the next pandemic was bound to “come knocking.”
“If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?” he said.
The 10-day annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, which coincides with the WHO’s 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics, eradicating polio, and supporting steps to ease Ukraine’s health emergency triggered by Russia’s invasion.
