WHO, the pandemic will end when the world wants to end it

by time news

When will the pandemic end?

There are many who ask with conflicting feelings between the irritated, the worried, the angry or the grieving for some loss in the family. And while the president of the Dominican Republic surprises and anticipates everyone by taking a third dose, the WHO answers the question in a somewhat cryptic way.

Many wonder when we will live again in a world free from Covid-19 and, although there are now several tools to make this wish come true, “governments and businesses are not doing enough,” said the director general of the World Health Organization. (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the 138th session of the International Olympic Committee.

“The pandemic will end when the world decides to end it,” said Tedros, recalling that 75% of vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries, but the real reason this drama is not over yet is the lack of a true political commitment.

“We have all the tools we need: we can prevent this disease, we can test to detect it and we can cure it and that’s more than we have for many other diseases. There is no vaccine for HIV, there is no cure for it. Alzheimer’s, there is no simple test for all forms of tuberculosis and the list is very, very long. We have the tools to prevent transmission and save lives. We can choose to end the pandemic, “continued Tedros.

Meanwhile, WHO continues to urge mass vaccination against Coronavirus by insisting that the common goal should be to vaccinate at least 10% of each country’s population by September 2021, 40% by the end of this. year and 70%. in 2022.

In his speech, the director of the WHO stressed that “every government must commit itself to protecting its people with a series of adequate and consistent social and public health measures. But it is dramatic to know that investments in anticovid measures are a fraction of this. that is invested in defense to kill people. ”The reasoning is simple but without answer. It is not clear why huge resources cannot be mobilized to defeat the virus in the same way that resources for the war industry are mobilized.

Another critical issue that emerged in this pandemic was highlighted by Tedros, namely that of sharing vaccines, tests and treatments, including oxygen. In low-income countries, only 1% of the population has received at least one dose of the anticovid vaccine while some of the wealthier countries are now talking about a third booster injection.

“The tragedy of this pandemic – noted Tedros – is that it could already be controlled if vaccines were distributed more fairly. The distortion in vaccine production and distribution has exposed and amplified the stabbing inequalities that have tainted human history.

Companies that make vaccines, tests and treatments also have a social responsibility to make sure these tools are available to everyone who needs them, everywhere. Many companies have failed to meet their commitments to share doses.

11 billion vaccines are needed to immunize 70% of each country’s population by the middle of next year and this goal requires a drastic increase in production.

A heavy indictment from the WHO that highlighted that there are many ways to increase production, such as sharing knowledge and technology with other companies with production capacity or giving up intellectual property rights on certain products for a period of time specified.

And these are also the many reasons why we are not yet out of the pandemic.

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