Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for nations to collaborate on a “monumental” pandemic agreement.
According to news agency AFP, the head of the World Health Organization stated in his year-end speech that following three years of COVID-19 “crisis, pain, and loss,” the world needed to prepare for future pandemics adequately and according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, the year 2023 brought about “immense and avoidable suffering” all across the world, signaling a turning point in the fight against significant health concerns.
To fill preparedness gaps, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for increased assistance operations for the Gaza Strip and asked nations to collaborate on a “monumental” pandemic accord. He claimed that the global Covid epidemic showed these shortcomings.
“This marked a turning point for the world following three years of crisis, pain, and loss for people everywhere,” he said in a video message. He said, “I’m glad to see that life has returned to normal.”
Tedros stated that although Azerbaijan, Belize, and Tajikistan have declared themselves malaria-free, the world needs to be more worried about the effects of climate change on human health, which took center stage at the COP28 conference.
About the “barbaric” Hamas attacks on Israel, “2023 has also been a year of immense and avoidable suffering and threats to health,” he stated. “The unleashing of a devastating attack on Gaza followed this.”
On October 7, Hamas assaulted southern Israel, killing roughly 1,140 people, most of them civilians, sparking the worst Gaza conflict to date. After taking 250 hostages, of which 129 are still inside Gaza, Israel unleashed a massive aerial bombardment and ground assault that resulted in the deaths of 20,915 individuals, the majority of whom were women and children.
He declared, “Relief efforts are not coming close to meeting the needs of people in Gaza,” adding that a cholera epidemic is also “especially concerning” given the record number of infections that have occurred globally.
He continued, saying, “But 2024 offers a unique opportunity to address these gaps,” adding that a “pandemic accord is being designed to bridge the gaps in global collaboration, cooperation, and equity.”
