End of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight - WHO chief

[onthedarkside]

 

 

Sept 14 (Reuters) - The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, urging nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people.

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The comment was the most optimistic from the UN agency since it declared COVID-19 an international emergency and started describing the virus as a pandemic in March 2020.

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Deaths from COVID-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the U.N. agency reported.

 

Still, countries need to take a hard look at their policies and strengthen them for COVID-19 and future viruses, [WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] said.

 

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https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-chief-says-end-sight-covid-19-pandemic-2022-09-14/

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

New Report by Lancet:  Commission on lessons for the future from the covid-19 pandemic,

 

The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic, published on Sept 15, lays bare what has been nothing less than a massive global failure—a failure of rationality, transparency, norms of public health practice, operational coordination, and international solidarity. The Commission shows that national governments were too slow and too cautious in their response to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2. They paid too little attention to the most vulnerable groups in society. Their responses were hampered by low public trust and an epidemic of misinformation and disinformation. The result was millions of preventable deaths and a reversal in progress towards sustainable development for many countries.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01761-5/fulltext

 

Covid-19: Commission describes “massive global failures” of pandemic response

The global response to the first two years of the covid-19 outbreak failed to control a pandemic that has led to an estimated 17.7 million deaths to date, a major review has concluded.1

The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the covid-19 pandemic, produced by 28 world leading experts and 100 contributors, cites widespread failures regarding prevention, transparency, rationality, standard public health practice, operational coordination, and global solidarity. It concludes that multilateral cooperation must improve to end the pandemic and manage future global health threats effectively.

https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2237

 

WHO responds to The Lancet COVID-19 Commission

WHO welcomes the overarching recommendations of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission’s report on “Lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic,” which align with our commitment to stronger global, regional and national pandemic preparedness, prevention, readiness and response. At the same time, there are several key omissions and misinterpretations in the report, not least regarding the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and the speed and scope of WHO’s actions.   

https://www.who.int/news/item/15-09-2022-who-responds-to-the-lancet-covid-19-commission