“He threatened me” – Time

Ranieri War, Deputy Director General ofwho, speaks exclusively of the case of pandemic plan on Sunday December 20 episode of “It’s not the sand”, The transmission made by Massimo giletti on LA7: “I have nothing to do with it, talk to who was there in 2018.”

Much ado About Nothing. the WHO Deputy Director-General, Ranieri War, returns the accusation of having withdrawn the file on Italy without being prepared for the pandemic gives COVID-19 and is called out of each responsibility: “Before the email of the dates 2006 and 2016 there are twenty emails before and twenty after, I do not understand why Zambon feels subject to threats and pressure. the United Nations they are very particular, no one can threaten someone with being fired unless there is an internal evaluation after a very complex mechanism. If I understand that the procedure has started? I don’t know, these are confidential procedures. I belong to a section, there are 7 offices and the director of Copenhagen is in charge of the section of Venice ”. Ranieri Guerra speaks, but does not say, on the contrary he gets confused and changes his version: “They have never withdrawn any report, I have no authority,Copenhagen Office, I’m not in the chain of command, I don’t understand why Zambon (the Venice investigator who uncovered the case, ed.) You are talking about me”.

But Giletti insists on the outdated plan for the influenza pandemic estimated to have cost at least 10,000 more victims from Covid-19 and shows the infamous email with the date from 2006 changed to 2016. Ranieri Guerra changes version: “The email The email he showed me was The date to verify the data was May 11. I see this version for the first time, I notice some imperfections, many, not a few and on this basis I call Zambon, I send him an email in which I present my comments, he answers thanks, he makes some changes and based on this the report is confirmed and published. Then it was withdrawn from the regional office without consulting me and without saying anything because I have no power. I did not make any comment on the phrase “The chaotic and creative reaction from Italy. “I honestly cannot understand what we are talking about. Zambon refers to the WHO office in Copenhagen, not me.” Giletti is puzzled and chases him and Ranieri Guerra responds to be Aphic: “I have nothing to do with it. Why don’t I talk to Zambon? I do not know. Although I have many emails ”.

The driver is not there and unmasks him: “Well, sooner or later he will have to get the communications to understand which of the two is lying” and the deputy director general of the WHO: “I’m right, I don’t show him certain things. I have personal ethics and professional and I will not bring them up. Why did I ask to postpone the publication of the report in two days? Because the Minister of Health asked to see the index of the dossier, we are in the same country and collaborate. My strong suggestion to my colleague and director Copenhagen was to inform the Ministry of Health that the file would be published, but only for institutional reasons. The Minister never interfered. ”And here is the umpteenth version of the missing report:“ I’ll tell you more, Zambon sends me an email saying no He is authorized to publish the text and asks me to help him publish it, I do it, I suggest the changes and inform the Minister “.

Massimo Giletti puts him in the corner, but Ranieri Guerra remains perched in his positions: “My version of the email dated 2006 and 2016? It was a 2006 revision, giving the idea that Italy does not have a plan against the flu pandemic is wrong. In the version that had the reference it was not and is correctly placed. If I wanted to edit the file I went into the properties and did it. The pandemic influenza plan is the same as in 2006 because it is verified, considered valid, and republished in 2016 because it is still good and because the new game rules decided by the WHO in 2017 have not yet arrived. Zambon corrects because my call is correct. The date is wrong because then they put 2017 ”.

But the journalist disagrees: “In truth, Zambon says that he came into conflict because he refused to write that the plan had been updated, he simply said: confirmed”, but Ranieri Guerra is a rubber wall: “I even said that the The work was valuable, you had to make corrections and that’s it, Zambon thanks me, then the document is approved and published for 24 hours, but in the end it disappears. I don’t know why, I have nothing to do with it. Is it true that I threatened Zambon with firing him? As a style I have never threatened anyone in my life, but in practice it is impossible for an international official to suffer such a threat without being protected, there is such a precise and guarantee mechanism that it is impossible. Perhaps Zambon said so to avoid the attempt of a direct confrontation ”.

Giletti doesn’t give up either: “One of the two is lying. You have to have the courage to say that there was no update “and Ranieri Guerra:” There was an anti-flu plan, was it updated? You don’t have to ask me. At the end of 2017 I alerted the Minister of Health of the guidelines of the new plan for 2018. Why does he say I have not done it? Before I was Ruocco, ask him if the plan has been updated or not. I can only say that the influenza pandemic plan had to be radically changed in 2018 because risk estimates and procedures had changed. “

Giletti’s questions about who is to blame for such an approach and why Italy has such a high number of deaths from coronavirus remain unanswered: “And why is he angry with the people who were there in 2016? You have to be angry with those who have not updated the plan. However, there are protocols in hospitals and they are accurate. Didn’t they apply? Ask the health workers ”.

The interview ends with a discussion between Ranieri Guerra and Vittorio D’Acquarone, Zambón’s lawyer. The WHO director denied having threatened investigator Francesco Zambon with retaliation and possible dismissal if he did not follow his instructions, but D’Acquarone affirms: “The reconstruction of the events does not seem entirely convincing, especially because he was or was not informed to the Minister of Health. On March 9, 2020, she was charged with maintaining relations with the Minister and WHO, followed the development of the Zambon study continuously, received written contributions and held conference calls, so much so that when the report was completed , he congratulated and asked for 50 copies. And then on May 11, 2020, after the famous email, he called my client on the phone and told him he absolutely had to fix it, otherwise it would have compromised his career. It even scared him. telling him that he was about to enter the office of director Tedros who has the power to fire whoever he wants ”.

Ranieri Guerra reveals a certain resentment towards Zambon: “Grotesque version. I have never seen the text other than the cover and table of contents, I saw the report 40 days before publication and received it from the Geneva offices because your client did not have time for me. He didn’t have time to send it to me. The communication to the Minister did not correspond to me, he is very wrong, I ask his client to inform Minister Speranza and he denies it, I respected it and they inform me of publication after publication, you will understand … I will tell you more: I tried Save that report by providing two experts to fix persistent errors and then the Copenhagen office. The call to Tedros? An unreliable rebuild. “