Urges Not To Postpone Reform To Face The Next Pandemic, WHO Chief: If Not Now, When?

WHO Head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Wikimedia Commons/ITU Pictures)

JAKARTA - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged countries to carry out the necessary reforms to prepare themselves for the next pandemic, praising their historic decision to accept a major budget increase at the UN agency's annual session.

Speaking at the hearing weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations to prevent the next pandemic.

"We can't just let this problem pass," he said in a keynote speech before WHO member states, warning that the next pandemic would definitely "lock the door".

"If we don't make changes that have to be done, then who else? And if we don't do it now, then when?" he said.

It is known that the 10-day World Health Assembly annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of the WHO, will address various global health challenges including the future pandemic, the eradication of polio, and supports measures to ease the state of health emergency in Ukraine triggered by the Russian invasion.

A total of 194 WHO member states are currently drafting a pandemic agreement to be adopted at next year's meeting.

"The commitment of this generation (to the pandemic agreement) is important, because it is this generation that experiences how terrible a small virus is," said Dr. Tedros.

At the same meeting, countries approved a budget of 6.83 billion US dollars for the year 2024-2025, a decision testing a national commitment to correct a WHO funding model that was deemed too small and too dependent on the peculiarities of donors.

The budget includes a 20 percent increase in mandatory contributions from member states under the initial agreement reached last year, in exchange for commitments to reform, including in terms of budget, governance and financial policy.