The head of WHO admitted the possibility of a new pandemic
A new pandemic is bound to happen sooner or later, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO). He announced this on April 7 at the opening of the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (IPPC), which is preparing an agreement on the prevention of pandemics.
During his speech, he recalled the severe consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world, stressing that "the next pandemic will not wait." He stressed that a new pandemic could begin "in 20 years or even tomorrow," noting the inevitability of its onset and the need to be prepared for it.
"You have seen what the COVID-19 pandemic has done. Officially, 7 million people died, but we estimate the true number at 20 million. And in addition to human losses, the pandemic has destroyed more than $10 trillion in the global economy," Ghebreyesus said, as quoted on the WHO's official website.
He expressed confidence in reaching consensus at the negotiations on an international agreement on combating pandemics, specifying that the document would not limit the sovereignty of countries, but, on the contrary, would strengthen both national and international response measures.
"The world needs a strong signal that in these divided and contradictory times, countries can still come together to cooperate and find common ground. An agreement to combat the pandemic can be such a signal, and you can be the ones to send it," concluded the head of the WHO.
Earlier, on April 3, Alexey Agranovsky, a professor at the Department of Virology at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University, denied the statement by the head of WHO, Gebreyesus, about the threat of a new pandemic "tomorrow." The specialist pointed out that this statement should not be taken seriously. To date, according to Agranovsky, "there is nothing serious on the horizon."
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