Selangor Journal
The World Health Organisation (WHO) logo is pictured at the entrance of the WHO building, in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 20, 2021. — Picture by REUTERS

Covid-19 global health emergency hopefully ends next year — WHO chief

GENEVA, Dec 15 — The chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday he hopes that Covid-19 would no longer be a global health emergency sometime next year.

Addressing a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO Covid-19 Emergency Committee would next month discuss the criteria for declaring an end to the Covid-19 emergency, reported Xinhua.

“We’re hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency,” he said.

He added, however, that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the culprit behind the Covid-19 pandemic, will not go away.

“It’s here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses including influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), both of which are now circulating intensely in many countries,” he said.

The WHO chief said one of the most important lessons from the pandemic was that all countries needed to strengthen their public health systems to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.

Another key lesson was the need for much stronger cooperation in collaboration, rather than competition and confusion that marked the global response to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, warned waves of infection and re-infection would continue around the world, as the number of weekly new deaths reported by countries still hovers between 8,000 to 10,000.

Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, warned that the world still does not know how the SARS-CoV-2 virus will evolve in the future, and such uncertainties add to risks.

Before the WHO chief ends the Covid-19 emergency, a balance needs to be struck between the virus – including its impact and unpredictability – and “whether or not we have dealt with the vulnerabilities and the resilience issues in our health systems,” Ryan said.

— Bernama

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