Don't delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic--WHO chief | Inquirer News

Don’t delay reforms to prepare for next pandemic–WHO chief

/ 04:48 PM May 22, 2023

reforms to prepare for next pandemic

Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization on Monday urged countries to carry out the reforms needed to prepare for the next pandemic and honor a previous commitment to boost financing for the U.N. health agency.

Speaking at the WHO’s annual health assembly weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations on preventing the next one.

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“We cannot kick this can down the road,” WHO Director-General said in a major address to the agency’s member states, warning that the next pandemic was bound to “come knocking”.

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“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 body’s 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics.

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The WHO’s 194 member states are currently negotiating reforms to the binding rules that fix their obligations in the event of an international health threat and are also drafting a broader pandemic treaty which is up for ratification next year.

“A commitment from this generation (to a pandemic accord) is important, because it is this generation that experienced how awful a small virus could be,” said Tedros. Countries are also set to consider later on Monday the WHO’s 2024-2025 budget which includes increases to countries’ annual fees.

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