MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2020) The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that the world was seriously underprepared for a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said on Friday.
"COVID-19 has shown that collectively the world was woefully underprepared. But with humility and togetherness we can plan for the long term, and invest in health and preparedness. This isn't charity, it's an investment in our collective future," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.
The pandemic, he went on, has exposed that "whether countries are rich or poor, health systems can be completely overwhelmed and essential services can break down."
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, co-chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring board and former WHO chief, similarly pointed to the lack of preparedness for this pandemic.
"There was not a lack of warning - it was not only us warning people and leaders last year, it has been warned again and again over the last 10 years since SARS, H1N1, MERS and then, of course, Ebola. And we should have been better prepared," she said.
Brundtland added that the International Health Regulations (IHR) should also be improved to ensure greater transparency, better reporting and follow-up. She recalled that the IHR, which represent an agreement between countries to work together for global health security, date back to 2005, after SARS, and "we are now in 2020."
