The UN chief of health declared on Friday that the positive results of the coronavirus vaccine trials mean the world “may begin to dream of the end of the pandemic,” but said that rich and powerful nations must not trample the poor and marginalized “in the stampede for vaccines.” “
In a speech delivered at the first high-level session of the UN General Assembly on the pandemic, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that while the virus can be stopped, “the road to continue to be treacherous. “
The pandemic has shown humanity “at its best and worst,” he said, noting “inspiring acts of compassion and self-sacrifice, impressive feats of science and innovation, and moving displays of solidarity, but also disturbing signs of self-interest,” the change. of guilt and divisions “.
Referring to the current increase in infections and deaths, Tedros said without naming any country that “where science is stifled by conspiracy theories, where solidarity is undermined by division, where sacrifice is replaced by self-interest, the virus thrives, the virus spreads. “
He warned in a virtual speech at the high-level meeting that a vaccine “will not address the vulnerabilities that lie at their root” – poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change, which he said must be addressed once the pandemic is over.
“We cannot and must not go back to the same patterns of exploitation of production and consumption, the same disregard for the planet that sustains all life, the same cycle of panic and meddling and the same divisive politics that fueled this pandemic,” he said. .
On vaccines, Tedros said, “the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter,” but vaccines “must be shared equally as global public goods, not as private products that widen inequalities and become yet another reason why the one some people are left behind. ” . “
He said the WHO ACT-Accelerator program to rapidly develop and distribute vaccines fairly “is in danger of becoming a noble gesture” without significant new funding.
He said $ 4.3 billion is needed immediately to lay the groundwork for mass procurement and delivery of vaccines and another $ 23.9 billion is required by 2021. That total, Tedros said, is less than half of 1 percent of the $ 11 trillion in stimulus packages. announced so far by the Group of 20, the richest countries in the world.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a similar call for funding for ACT-Accelerator at Thursday’s opening of the two-day session of the General Assembly. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that Guterres is frustrated and would have liked to see “a much higher rate of investment from countries that can.”
Despite years of warnings, Tedros said, many countries were unprepared for the pandemic and assumed their health systems would protect their people. Many countries that have fared better in dealing with the crisis had experience responding to outbreaks of SARS, MERS, HINI and other infectious diseases, he said.
The WHO has been harshly criticized for not taking on a stronger and more vocal role in handling the pandemic.
Tedros told the meeting that “clearly, the global preparedness system needs attention.”
He said a WHO commission established in September is reviewing international health regulations. WHO is also working with several countries to develop a pilot program in which countries agree to conduct regular and transparent reviews of their health readiness, he said.
The pandemic also showed the need for a global system to share samples of viruses and other disease-causing pathogens to facilitate the development of “medical countermeasures as global public goods,” he said, welcoming Switzerland’s offer to use a laboratory for high security to manage a new biobank.
Tedros also supported European Union President Charles Michel’s proposal for an international treaty under which WHO would monitor the risks of emerging infectious diseases in animals for transmission to humans, ensure health risk alerts, improve access to healthcare and would address funding needs. He said this would provide “the political basis” to strengthen the global health sector.
The world spends $ 7.5 trillion on health each year, nearly 10% of global GDP, Tedros said, but most of that money is spent in rich countries treating disease rather than “promoting and protecting health”.
“We need a radical rethinking of the way we view and value health,” he said.
“If the world is to avoid another crisis of this scale,” said Tedros, “investments in basic public health functions, especially primary health care, are essential, and all roads must lead to universal health coverage with a solid foundation of primary health care. “
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