Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, revealed, during a symposium on pandemic preparedness in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, that the Corona pandemic has caused great damage to all countries, explaining that we were surprised by this pandemic, and we were not prepared to deal with such pandemics while we were at a crossroads, and it could be We prioritize preparedness rather than pandemics turning into disasters. He said, We must work together and meet the heart of one man.
For her part, Dr. Thoraya Obeid, Dr. Thoraya Obeid, a member of the independent team on epidemic preparedness and response, said that the world is facing a number of mutations that we are currently experiencing, explaining that in 2020, when the Corona pandemic appeared, we were not prepared for this pandemic and the Director of the World Health Organization demanded a contract An independent team for pandemic preparedness in order to prevent such future pandemics, stressing that the team reached tangible results and reached concrete recommendations. The pandemic, although doctors published calls predicting the pandemic, and the third result is the delay in responding even to the richest countries, and the fourth result is the absence of global action, the emergence of nationalism, and the fifth result is that there was insufficient funding, which led to the death of millions of people, and the impact on the economy, And the World Health Organization was removed from power, and they did not give it the necessary strength, widening the gap and lack of social protection, explaining that some of the countries that rushed to respond involved communities in addressing the pandemic and worked on any GAD vaccine is effective quickly.
She indicated that the most important recommendations of the independent team are to end the current pandemic, prevent future pandemics, and vaccinate all citizens, including people in low- and middle-income countries, but this is not enough to end the pandemic, and the independent team requested that rich countries provide vaccines to low-income countries through the Kovacs initiative.
She said that the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization should work together to enhance vaccine production, and work should be done not to turn into other pandemics and raise the level of pandemic preparedness at the highest level, at the level of heads of state and government, adopting an international agreement for pandemic preparedness, and strengthening the independence and authority of the Health Organization Global as the organization that works to promote health globally, based on specific resources and strengthening the authority of the Director-General of the World Health Organization and investment for preparedness against another pandemic and national prevention, and to ensure that funding is provided, and that develops the skills required and this requires on the formulation of the consideration of workflow and development Surveillance systems for epidemics, and for the organization to have the authority to investigate any epidemics of concern, and work should be done to transfer technology, licensing and production of vaccines.
She stressed that equity must be achieved in the distribution of vaccines worldwide, provide funding for pandemic preparedness, establish a pandemic financing facility, enhance contributions from 10 to 15 billion dollars, and take coordination to respond to and prepare for pandemics through the supremacy of facility-specific capacities and support for health workers and in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Some countries suffer from marginalized people.