After finally ending three years of Covid "Crisis, Pain, and Loss," the head of WHO said on Tuesday that the world needed to properly prepare for future pandemics.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in his end-of-the-year message that while 2023 had been a turning point in the fight against serious health issues, it had also brought about "immense and avoidable suffering."
Tedros encouraged countries to sign a "monumental" pandemic treaty in order to fix preparedness gaps that the epidemic revealed and called for increased aid operations for the Gaza Strip.
In May, Tedros proclaimed the end of COVID-19 as a global public health emergency.
“This marked a turning point for the world following three years of crisis, pain and loss for people everywhere,” he recalled in a video message. “I’m glad to see that life has returned to normal.”
According to Tedros, the UN health agency approved new vaccines for meningitis, dengue fever, and malaria after ten months, and the WHO also lifted a similar emergency on mpox in May of 2023.
In the meantime, Tajikistan, Belize, and Azerbaijan were certified malaria-free.
Tedros added that the most recent annual UN climate conference, COP28, held a few weeks ago, focused heavily on the health effects of climate change.
However, “2023 has also been a year of immense and avoidable suffering and threats to health,” he added.
Tedros said how Hamas attacked Israel in a "barbaric" manner, "followed by the unleashing of a devastating attack on Gaza."
According to an AFP count based on Israeli numbers, Hamas's October 7 strike on southern Israel set off the worst Gaza war ever, killing roughly 1,140 people, the majority of whom were civilians.
A total of 250 hostages were taken, 129 of whom are still in Gaza.
Israel initiated a heavy air campaign and a ground assault. The health ministry in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, reports that 20,915 individuals have died as a result of the campaign, most of them women and children.
“Relief efforts are not coming close to meeting the needs of people in Gaza,” Tedros said, underscoring the WHO’s call for an immediate ceasefire.
