COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic —WHO

The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Saturday the COVID-19 crisis would not be the last pandemic and attempts to improve human health are “doomed” without tackling climate change and animal welfare.

Ghebreyesus, who stated this in a video message marking Sunday’s first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, also condemned the “dangerously short-sighted” cycle of throwing cash at outbreaks but doing nothing to prepare for the next one.

The WHO chief said it was time to learn the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said: “For too long, the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect.

“We throw money at an outbreak, and when it’s over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one. This is dangerously short-sighted, and frankly difficult to understand.”

READ ALSO: Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases hit 2.5m – Africa CDC

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board’s September 2019 first annual report on the world readiness for health emergencies — published a few months before the COVID-19 broke out — said the planet was woefully unprepared for potentially devastating pandemics.

“History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals, and planet.

“Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that’s making our earth less habitable,” Ghebreyesus added.

At least 80 million COVID-19 cases and 1.75 million fatalities had been recorded since the outbreak first emerged in China in December 2019.

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