the next global pandemic could be even deadlier than covid-19, warns the world health organization’s top doctor.
and the world is not prepared to deal with a future
disease x
that could wreak havoc around the world, who director-general dr. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus told a world governments summit in dubai earlier this month.
“exactly six years ago, i said the world was not prepared for a pandemic and expressed my concern at that time that a pandemic could happen any time,” he said on feb. 12,
reported metro u.k.
less than two years later, covid-19 was discovered in china and the disease spread across the world.
“in the aftermath of covid-19, millions of people are dead with social, economic and political shocks that reverberate to this day. the painful lessons we learned are in danger of being forgotten as attention turns to many other crises confronting our world.”
the who’s top doctor, who has been at the helm since 2017, said society will “pay dearly” for failing to learn the lessons of past outbreaks.
“if we fail to learn those lessons, we will pay dearly next time – and there will be a next time. the cycle of panic and neglect is beginning to repeat,” he said.
disease x is a term used by the who since 2018 to refer to future infectious pathogens that could have the potential to spread across the globe.
tedros also
sounded the alarm bells
in january at the world economic forum’s annual meeting in davos.