WHO has recently classified a new variant with a large number of mutations
Director-General of WHO Dr Tedros
Ghebreyesus on Friday said though COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency for
the world, it is still a ‘global health threat' and a new variant of
coronavirus is already under the scanner.
The chief of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the G20 Health
Ministers' Meeting at Mahatma Mandir Convention centre in Gujarat's capital
Gandhinagar.
“Although COVID-19 is no longer a global
health emergency, it remains a global health threat. WHO has recently
classified a new variant with a large number of mutations. The BA.2.86 variant
is under monitoring at present, highlighting once again the need for all
countries to maintain surveillance,” he said.
On the occasion, he urged all the
countries to speed up the process of finalising the ‘Pandemic Accord' so that
it can be adopted in the World Health Assembly scheduled to be held next year.
“COVID-19 has taught us all an important
lesson that when health is at risk everything is at risk. The world is learning
the painful lessons of the pandemic,” said Dr Ghebreyesus in his address to the
G20 member countries.
Beginning with the presidency of Saudi
Arabia, he said, discussions led to the establishment of a joint “Finance
Health Task Force” under the interim presidency supported by Indonesia and now
India under their respective presidencies.
The WHO head said negotiations on the
Pandemic Accord and amendments to the international health regulations are
making good progress. He said both are essential for creating the legal and
operational framework for inclusive, coherent and equitable global health
security architecture.
“I seek your commitment for negotiating
a comprehensive Pandemic Accord that encompasses all the essence of pandemic so
that we never repeat the same mistakes again. Time is the essence here. The
accord is scheduled to be considered by the World Health Assembly next year,”
he said.
On the occasion, the WHO chief praised
India for introducing telemedicine at primary healthcare level. He also
congratulated India for “its commitment to universal health coverage at home
especially through Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance
scheme”.
“I thank India and all the G20 countries
for their leadership in developing the global initiative on digital health,
which will be launched formally tomorrow. This important initiative will
support the WHO global strategy on digital health and amplify other initiatives
including the WHO global digital health certification network,” he said.
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