One of the senior officials of the World Health Organization warned on Monday that while the coronavirus pandemic was “very serious”, “it is not necessarily the biggest”.
© Christopher Black / World Health Organization, via Reuters
Michael Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s emergency program, shown in October, said: “We must honor those we lose by improving what we do every day.”
Reflecting on the year at WHO’s final media briefing in 2020, emergency program chief Michael Ryan said his words could come as a shock.
More than 1.7 million people worldwide have died this year from Covid-19, more than 81 million cases have been reported and the spread of the coronavirus has been relentless in many countries.
“These threats will continue,” said Dr. Ryan. “If there is one thing we need to get out of this pandemic, with all the tragedies and losses, it is that we need to act together. We need to prepare for something that could be even more serious in the future. “
Dr. Ryan acknowledged that a lot of progress has been made to improve the way we communicate and govern during this pandemic, but, he said, this year was a “wake-up call” and “we must honor those we lose by improving what we do every day. “
In an equally solemn tone, David Heymann, chairman of the WHO strategic and technical advisory group on infectious risks, predicted that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19, would become endemic, like other human coronaviruses. like SARS and MERS that have spread in recent years.
Coronavirus vaccination programs, the WHO said, would be essential to save lives and protect vulnerable people.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, promised that the organization “would not rest until those in need everywhere, in all countries, had access to vaccines and were protected”.
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