World unprepared for a pandemic: WHO chief

GENEVA – The World Health Organization chief has said that it is clear that the world was — and remains — unprepared for a pandemic, calling for support for universal health care and other reform measures.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus delivered his vision for the next five years for the WHO at the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) opening session.

The WHA, the WHO’s main decision-making body, adopted a resolution to not include Taiwan as an observer in the assembly after China made a spirited objection in the opening exchanges, describing the move as “political manipulation.”

– Pandemic far from over

In his speech, Tedros said the COVID-19 pandemic is ‘far from over.’

“And even as we continue to fight it, we face the task of restoring essential health services, with 90% of member states reporting disruption to one or more essential health services,” said the WHO chief.

“The pandemic has demonstrated why the world needs WHO, but also why the world needs a stronger, empowered, and sustainably financed WHO.”

Tedros said the world health body would like to see 1 billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage by 2023, but it is far behind, and progress is less than one-quarter required to reach the target.

“Even before the pandemic, we estimated that only 270 million more people would be covered by 2023 — a shortfall of 730 million people against the target of 1 billion.”

He noted: “It’s clear that the world was — and remains — unprepared for a pandemic.

“Every month, WHO processes more than 9 million pieces of information, screens 43,000 signals, reviews 4,500 events, and verifies an average of 30 events.”