WHO
More pandemics likely to come, countries must invest in preparedness: WHO chief
Geneva/Sputnik: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the world should get prepared for future pandemics that are inevitable.
"In the past 12 months our world has been turned upside-down," Ghebreyesus said in a video address marking Sunday's first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
He added that prior to the start of the coronavirus pandemic this past spring there have been many reviews and reports saying that the world was not ready for such a crisis.
"All countries must invest in preparedness capacities," the WHO chief stressed, adding that "true preparedness is not just a job for the health sector" and requires "an all-of-government and all-of-society approach."
"History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life," Ghebreyesus cautioned, saying that we must learn lessons from the current pandemic.
According to the latest WHO estimates, there are over 78.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, while the global death toll stands at over 1.7 million.
Meanwhile the Johns Hopkins University puts the number of COVID-19 cases at 80.2 million, including 1.75 deaths.
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