GENEVA • The coronavirus crisis will not be the last pandemic, and attempts to improve human health are "doomed" without tackling climate change and animal welfare, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) chief said.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also condemned the "dangerously short-sighted" cycle of throwing cash at outbreaks but doing nothing to prepare for the next one, in a video message marking yesterday's first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
The WHO director-general said it was time to learn the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic.
"For too long, the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect," he said.
"We throw money at an outbreak, and when it's over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one. This is dangerously short-sighted, and, frankly, difficult to understand."
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board's September 2019 first annual report on world readiness for health emergencies - published a few months before the coronavirus broke out - said the planet was woefully unprepared for potentially devastating pandemics.
"History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life," said Dr Tedros. "The pandemic has highlighted the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and planet," he added. "Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that's making our earth less habitable."
The coronavirus has killed at least 1.76 million people, and more than 80 million cases have been recorded since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by Agence France-Presse.
Europe is the world's hardest-hit region, passing the 25 million case mark last Friday and with 546,000 deaths. After Europe, the United States and Canada make up the second worst-hit region, with 346,636 deaths out of over 19.4 million cases.
The individual countries with the largest number of infections are the US, with more than 18.9 million cases and 331,916 deaths; India, with over 10.1 million cases and 147,343 deaths; and Brazil, with more than 7.4 million cases and 190,795 deaths.
Last week, an average of 580,000 new cases were registered every day.
"In the past 12 months, our world has been turned upside down. The impacts of the pandemic go far beyond the disease itself, with far-reaching consequences for societies and economies," said Dr Tedros. But he said the coronavirus crisis should not have come as a surprise, given the repeated warnings. "We must all learn the lessons the pandemic is teaching us," he said.
Dr Tedros called for stronger primary healthcare provision. With investments in public health, "we can ensure that our children and their children inherit a safer, more resilient and more sustainable world", he said.
The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was called for by the United Nations General Assembly to promote the importance of prevention, preparedness and partnership in tackling epidemics.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
