Reuters DBA /
Director of the WHO’s Emergencies Program, Michael Ryan
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday that despite the severity of the “Covid-19” pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.7 million deaths and tens of millions of injuries within a year, it is urgent to prepare for the “worst”.
“This pandemic is very acute. It has spread rapidly in various parts of the world and has reached all corners of the planet, but it is not necessarily the worst,” said the director of the World Health Organization’s emergency program, Michael Ryan, at the last press conference this year.
He acknowledged that the virus “spreads very easily and kills humans,” but stressed that “the death rate is relatively low compared to other new diseases.” He stressed the need to “prepare in the future for what might be worse.”
His colleague Bruce Aylward, a WHO advisor, agreed with him, who considered that despite the achievements made in combating “Covid-19”, including the production of effective vaccines in record time, the world is still far from being prepared to combat future pandemics.
“We are in the second and third wave of this virus and we are still not ready and unable to manage it,” Aylward said at the press conference.
He stressed that “although we are more prepared, we are not fully prepared (for the current pandemic), and we are less prepared for the coming one.”
For his part, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus preferred to see the positive side.
Tedros said, “On the level of perception, I think we are ready,” stressing that the time has come “to take things very seriously,” adding that matters require “greater ambition.”
Source: “AFP”
