WHO DG Tedros Ghebreyesus calls for creation of pandemic treaty

Director-General of the World Health Organisation Tedros Ghebreyesus has called for greater global co-operation to stop future pandemics.

Dr Tedros renewed calls for the creation of a global pandemic treaty and said that humanity would “not be able to forgive ourselves” if lessons learnt during the Covid-19 outbreak were not acted upon.

Speaking from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, Dr Tedros said the world had made significant strides in improving public health in recent decades, pointing to declines in child and maternal mortality, as well as the eradication of serious diseases.

Life expectancy has also risen from 46 to 73 years in the past seven decades, he added, with the biggest rises in the poorest countries.

The world body in 2021 outlined plans to create pandemic accords that would create a blueprint for tackling future pandemics.

But reports suggest that countries have been involved in significant wrangling over the terms of the treaty, which is still at least a year away from being finalised.