WHO chief predicts emergence of new dangerous virus on earth

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus has called on the global community to learn from the current COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for a new one. The emergence of another virus on earth, the spread of which will be impossible to contain, is "undoubted from the point of view of biology," Report informs, citing foreign media that he said this at a meeting of the G20 finance and health ministers in Rome.

"Even if we put an end to this pandemic, we must learn the lessons it teaches us and prepare for the next one," said the head of WHO. "From the point of view of biology, there is no doubt that at some point there will be another virus that we simply cannot contain," Ghebreyesus stressed.

According to him, "high-level threats" require "high-level political participation" to combat them. In this regard, he called on the G20 to support the conclusion of a legally binding international agreement on preparing for and responding to pandemics. A decision on this matter is planned to be taken at a special session of the World Health Assembly, scheduled for November.

The WHO chief drew attention to the lack of equality in the world in access to vaccines. He recalled that now 36% of the world's inhabitants are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, but in Africa, this figure is "only 6%".

At the same time, as the director-general stressed, "although vaccines save lives, they do not stop the transmission" of infection. Therefore, each country must use all the tools, including the developed measures in the health and social sphere, "in combination with testing, treatment and vaccines," he summed up.