WHO Says World Must Be Ready For Next Pandemic

By Staff, Agencies

World Health Organization [WHO] Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed on Monday that the world must be ready for next pandemic, as he urged countries to increase investment in public health.

Tedros made the comments at a press conference at WHO headquarters as updated figures revealed that globally, as of 16:24 Central European Summer Time on Monday, there have been 27,032,617 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 881,464 deaths.

"COVID-19 is teaching all of us many lessons. One of them is that health is not a luxury item for those who can afford it. It's a necessity and a human right. Public health is the foundation of social, economic and political stability. That means investing in population-based services for preventing, detecting, and responding to disease," said Tedros.

"This will not be the last pandemic. History teaches us that outbreaks and pandemics are a fact of life. But when the next pandemic comes, the world must be ready, more ready than it was this time," he added.

Tedros pointed out that while many countries have made considerable progress in medicine, others have neglected their basic public health systems. Thus, he has called on countries to boost investment which is the foundation for responding to the outbreak of infectious diseases.