[ad_1]
The head of the World Health Organization denies taking sides in the Ethiopian government’s war with the Tigray region, which has spread to neighboring Eritrea. In a statement, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says: “My heart breaks for my home, Ethiopia.”
When you say that the world “needs peace for health,” you speak from experience. At the first reports of Ebola in a war zone in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tedros, as he is known, immediately entered an active conflict from WHO headquarters in Geneva. With vital help from WHO, which credits the courageous work of local doctors and health workers, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been declared Ebola free for the first time in three years.
Dr. Roopa Dhatt, Executive Director of Women in Global Health, tweeted: As someone who knows @DrTedrosI am appalled at the latest efforts to undermine your leadership.
A spokesperson for the United Nations tweeted: From today’s noon briefing [19 November]: @antonioguterreshas the utmost respect for @DrTedros– an exemplary international public servant. Has guided the@WHOthrough Ebola, # COVID-19 And it has always focused on the need to strengthen global public health.
After the impeachment of Ethiopia, Tedros tweeted this @DrTedros statement:
My heart breaks for my home, Ethiopia, and I call on all parties to work for peace and ensure the safety of civilians and access to healthcare and humanitarian assistance for those in need.
I am deeply saddened by reports of victims and large numbers of people displaced and seeking refuge in neighboring countries. In the midst of a global pandemic, I am even more concerned about the impact on health.
As a child, I have seen the destructive nature of war. I vividly remember the fight and the terrible number of human victims. As an adult, I have used that first-hand experience to always work for peace, to unite the parties in conflict and to initiate dialogue to negotiate peace.
History welcomes those who manage to cross, save the division, and go from war to peace. I join the Secretary-General of the United Nations in calling for “immediate measures to reduce tensions and ensure a peaceful resolution of the dispute.”
There have been reports suggesting that I am taking sides in this situation. This is not true and I want to say that I am on one side and that is the side of peace.
The whole world needs peace for health and health for peace.
[ad_2]
