The World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed six special envoys to aid in the global effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, officially called COVID-19, Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2020) The World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed six special envoys to aid in the global effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, officially called COVID-19, Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday.
"I'm also pleased to announce today, that we're appointing six special envoys on COVID-19 to provide strategic advice and high-level political advocacy and engagement in different parts of the world," the secretary-general stated.
The group of special envoys will comprise leading medical professions with experience at both the national and regional levels. Former Egyptian Health Minister and Population Maha El Rabbat, and David Nabarro, former special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change, were the first two envoys to be announced by Ghebreyesus.
Two former WHO regional directors have also been appointed as special envoys. Mirta Roses, who has experience of the Americas region and Shin Young-soo, who fulfilled the role in the Western Pacific region, have also been given advisory roles.
WHO has also selected two experts with experience of controlling the spread of contagious diseases in Africa to become special envoys to control the coronavirus disease outbreak. John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Samba Sow, director-general of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali have accepted Ghebreyesus' invitation to become special envoys.
"WHO's key role is coordinating the global response to the epidemic and our new special envoys will help us to do that. This is another step we're taking to take advantage of the window of opportunity we have to contain this outbreak," Ghebreyesus said.
During the press briefing, the director-general stated that as of 05:00 GMT on Friday, China has reported over 75,500 cases of COVID-19, including more than 2,200 deaths. More than 1,100 confirmed cases have been identified outside of China, with more than 25 countries reporting cases of infection.
