The World Health Organisation has declared the Covid global health emergency over, nearly 40 months after it was first declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and after a reported death toll of 7m deaths, but a likely actual death toll of nearly 20m.
However, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyessus has warned that the disease remains a threat, along with multiple other stressors threatening global health and security – from climate change to weak health systems. Taken together, these could soon lead to yet another pandemic if not tackled, reports Health Policy Watch.
Tedros has urged political leaders to expedite the finalisation of terms of a new Pandemic Accord being negotiated by WHO member states, and agree to revisions in existing International Health Regulations …with a “commitment to future generations that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic and neglect that left our world vulnerable”.
Declaration not unexpected
WHO’s release last week of an updated Covid-19 Global Strategic Preparedness, Readiness and Response Plan (SPRP) 2023-2025 had fuelled speculation among seasoned WHO-watchers that an announcement was imminent.
The document was billed as a guide for managing Covid “in the transition from an emergency phase to a longer-term, sustained response”.
“We have the tools and technologies to prepare better, to detect… and respond faster and to mitigate their impact. But globally, a lack of coordination, equity, solidarity meant those tools were not used effectively … Lives were lost that should not have been,” Tedros said.
A year to reach consensus
Within WHO, two member state groups are leading negotiations on a draft pandemic accord and revisions in existing WHO health emergency (IHR) rules.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) and the IHR Working Group have just one more year to complete their work in line with a mandate to bring draft agreements to the World Health Assembly by May 2024.
They are planning a joint meeting soon in an effort to decide which topics, among multiple issues, would better be handled in one instrument.
They need to reach WHO member state consensus over various issues – from measures for stricter monitoring and reporting by countries of emerging threats to more sustainable financing of developing health systems and more equitable distributions of vaccines, medicines and other vital health tools.
Along with that, climate change, ecosystem destruction, and poorly regulated wildlife markets and trade are constantly increasing the risks of zoonotic spillover of new and resurgent diseases from animals to humans.
Advocates say the problems go beyond what WHO alone can handle, and are calling for the UN General Assembly to play a more active role. The UN General Assembly will hold a meeting on pandemic preparedness, prevention and response on 20 September – with a civil society stakeholder meeting taking place next week.
Among the voices calling for more UN-wide leadership are Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former co-chairs of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which issued a scathing report to WHO in May 2021. Last week, the two former co-chairs issued a new “Road Map” calling for more assertive action by the UNGA alongside WHO.
“Bold political choices to protect the world” are needed, the report states, including UN-wide agreement on stronger international pandemic rules, equitable countermeasures and an independent monitoring body working alongside an “authoritative WHO”.
In terms of finance, at least $10.5bn annually is needed to support low- and middle-income countries to bring health systems preparedness up to par. So far, only about 10% of that has been committed to a new World Bank-hosted Pandemic Fund.
Debt relief for overstretched developing nations and innovative forms of climate and sustainable development finance are also critical to pandemic prevention, the report states.
Meanwhile, the national Health Department says that while coronavirus infections have been on a downward trajectory in South Africa for months, the spread of the virus remains a health threat and concern, reports TimesLIVE.
The WHO announcement, it added, “doesn’t mean the pandemic is over.”
“The fact is, the pandemic remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk populations like the elderly and people living with comorbidities.”
The department encouraged people to get vaccinated, saying that as of February this year, 102 595 lives had been lost to the virus.
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