The threat of another deadly pathogen emerging with even more catastrophic potential than the Chinese coronavirus cannot be ruled out in the future, the head of the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) warned Tuesday.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the World Health Assembly forum in Geneva, Switzerland, the possibility of another public health crisis must be addressed and not kicked “down the road.”
He also claimed that despite the darkest days of the pandemic having passed a doomsday variant with the power to rock the world back to square one could still spawn. Tedros said:
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.
Furthermore, in the face of overlapping and converging crises, “pandemics are far from the only threat we face”, the Ethiopian public health official added, before pleading for effective globalist mechanisms that enforce responses to emergencies of all kinds.
“When the next pandemic comes knocking – and it will – we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively, and equitably,” he advised.
The W.H.O. has identified nine priority diseases that pose the biggest risk to public health. They were deemed to be most risky due to a lack of treatments or their ability to cause a pandemic.
Tedros further urged countries to “pick up the pace of progress” on the Triple Billion and health-related SDG targets.
He called for urgent and constructive negotiations on the new global pandemic accord and the International Health Regulations (IHR), the treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies, “so the world will never again have to face the devastation of a pandemic like COVID-19”.
Tedros concluded by asking countries to support a 20 percent increase in their contributions to support the work of W.H.O. out of its Geneva headquarters.