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Geneva:
The World Health Organization’s chief known as Monday on everybody to maintain preventing Covid-19, warning that whereas we could also be sick of battling the pandemic, the virus is “not tired of us”.
Speaking to WHO’s major annual meeting, which resumed Monday after being lower brief in May, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus additionally hailed the election of Joe Biden as the following US president, voicing hope it might sign tighter international cooperation to finish the pandemic.
It was important, he stated, for individuals to observe the science and resist the urge to show a blind eye to the virus.
“We might be tired of COVID-19. But it is not tired of us,” he stated.
Tedros, talking from quarantine after coming in touch with somebody who examined constructive for Covid-19, warned that the virus preys on weak point.
“It preys on those in weaker health, but it preys on other weaknesses too: inequality, division, denial, wishful thinking and wilful ignorance,” he stated.
“We cannot negotiate with it, nor close our eyes and hope it goes away.”
“It pays no heed to political rhetoric or conspiracy theories,” he stated.
“Our only hope is science, solutions and solidarity.”
His remark got here after Covid-19 has killed greater than 1.25 million individuals and contaminated over 50 million worldwide because it first surfaced in China late final 12 months.
Tedros warned that the pandemic had laid naked the necessity for the world to recapture a “sense of common purpose”, which lately has been eroded by the “creeping tides of misguided nationalism and isolationism”.
“In that spirit, we congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and we look forward to working with their administration very closely.”
Biden has signalled that his administration will reverse Donald Trump’s determination to withdraw the United States — historically WHO’s high donor — from the UN well being company.
“We need to reimagine leadership, built on mutual trust and mutual accountability, to end the pandemic and address the fundamental inequalities that lie at the root of so many of the world’s problems,” Tedros stated.
– Taiwan frozen out –
Noticeably absent from this week’s resumed World Health Assembly (WHA) was Taiwan, which stated Chinese “obstruction” had prevented it from attending and accused the WHO of prioritising politics over well being.
The self-ruled island of 23 million has seen exceptional success in combating the pandemic — with solely seven deaths and fewer than 600 confirmed circumstances.
But it’s frozen out of the WHO by Beijing, which regards Taiwan as its personal territory — not even allowed to take part as an observer as was the case between 2009 and 2016.
“As the world is still under serious threat of the Covid-19 pandemic… it is an irony to the ‘health for all’ goal under the WHO charter” to exclude Taiwan, Taipei’s overseas ministry stated Monday.
The WHA may even deal with the greater than 60 different well being emergencies the WHO has responded to this 12 months, together with measles, Ebola and yellow fever outbreaks.
It will likely be an event for nations to debate reforming the WHO so it could actually reply to challenges like pandemics quicker and extra successfully.
Tedros known as once more for “a system in which countries agree to a regular and transparent process of peer review” of their well being insurance policies.
He stated the Universal Periodic Review on the UN Human Rights Council, the place every nation’s rights state of affairs is evaluated each few years, might function inspiration.
The concept was put ahead final 12 months by the Central African Republic and Benin, and France, Germany and Cameroon have already accepted to work on this mission, he added.
The subject of transparency in well being insurance policies is on the coronary heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, with China accused by some nations together with the United States of getting lined up no less than the primary circumstances of coronavirus.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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