As the world grapples with war, inflation, and political unrest, one of the most powerful figures in global health has turned the spotlight on a different kind of threat – one that doesn’t require bombs or battalions to wreak havoc.
Speaking at a high-level meeting on international health policy, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, delivered a stark warning:
The next pandemic is not a matter of speculation. It is a certainty. The only unknown is when it will strike.
A fragile defense against the next outbreak
The speech came during negotiations on a new global agreement – the Pandemic Accord – designed to improve coordination and speed of response when the next pandemic emerges.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that despite lessons learned from COVID-19, the world remains dangerously underprepared.
“The COVID-19 pandemic may now seem like a distant memory, overtaken by conflict and geopolitical and economic disruption. But the next pandemic will not wait until things calm down”, he said in his speech.
Perhaps most startling was his comparison between pandemics and war: a severe outbreak, he warned, could result in more deaths and greater economic damage than armed conflict.
A sobering thought, especially considering how the coronavirus crisis upended daily life across the globe.
This article is based on information from B.T.