Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has warned of a new health crisis following the World Health Assembly meeting, which lasted a week in Geneva. He stated that the decisions made by the organization during the Geneva meeting demonstrate a common desire among member states to protect their populations and the world from the shared risks of public health emergencies and future pandemics, according to Russia Today.
The WHO Director-General added that the decision to negotiate an agreement on pandemics within the next year shows the strong and urgent desire of countries because the next pandemic is a matter of time.
Members of the World Health Organization presented a deadline of one year until the next year’s assembly to reach an agreement on a historic global treaty aimed at addressing future pandemics.
With the conclusion of the Geneva meeting, the World Health Organization stated in a statement that the Assembly has made tangible commitments to complete negotiations on a global agreement on pandemics within a year at the latest. The Assembly also agreed to amend the International Health Regulations, which are a legally binding framework for responding to public health emergencies.
In the same context, the Director-General of the World Health Organization noted that changes to the International Health Regulations will enhance countries’ ability to detect future pandemic outbreaks and respond to them by strengthening their national capacities and coordinating between countries on disease surveillance, information exchange, and response.
