World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the number of weekly COVID-19 deaths last week has fallen to the lowest since March 2020. He said that the end of the pandemic is now near.
“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic”, the WHO chief told media personnel during his regular weekly press conference. However, the director general of the UN health agency explained that the world “is not there yet”.
“A marathon runner doesn’t stop when the finish line approaches. She works harder, with all the energy she has left. Us too. We can see the finish line. We’re in a win-win situation. But Now is the worst time to stop running”, he underlined.
The WHO chief also warned that there is still a risk of more types, deaths, disruptions and uncertainty if the world does not take advantage of this opportunity now. “So, let’s seize this opportunity”, he urged, declaring that the WHO is releasing six short policy briefs that outline the key actions all governments need to do now to “end the race”. needed.
Policy briefing is a summary, based on evidence and experience from the past 32 months, that outlines what is best done to save lives, protect health systems, and avoid social and economic disruption.
,[They] There is an urgent call for governments to take a closer look at their policies and strengthen them for COVID-19 and pathogens with future pandemic potential”, Tedros explained.
The documents, which are available online, include recommendations about vaccination of most at-risk groups, continuous testing and sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and integrating effective treatments for COVID-19 into primary health systems.
They also urge officials to plan for future surges, including protecting supplies, equipment, and additional health workers. The brief also includes communication advice, including training health workers to identify and address misinformation, as well as create high-quality informational content.
Tedros underlined that the WHO has been working since New Year’s Eve 2019 to fight against the spread of COVID and will continue to do so until the pandemic is “truly over”.
“We can end this pandemic together, but only if all countries, manufacturers, communities and individuals take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOThe technical leadership on COVID-19 highlighted that the virus is still “rapidly circulating” around the world and that the agency believes the number of cases being reported is low.
“We expect that there are going to be future waves of infections, potentially due to different subtypes at different time points around the world. omicron Or different forms of anxiety”, she reiterated her earlier warning that the more the virus spreads, the more opportunities there are for it to mutate.
However, she said, there is no need to translate these future waves into “waves or death” because there are now particularly effective tools such as vaccines and antivirals. COVID-19,
In more than 2 years since the first cases were reported, the COVID-19 pandemic remains an acute global emergency. Many governments face uncertainties about how to prioritize at a time when the pandemic appears to be in transition, but when the risk of new forms emerging and future surges remains real.
ANI. with inputs of
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