WHO chief urges countries to quickly seal pandemic deal
The Peninsula
Geneva: The World Health Organization chief on Monday urged countries to nail down a landmark global agreement on handling of future pandemics after t...
Geneva: The World Health Organization chief on Monday urged countries to nail down a landmark global agreement on handling of future pandemics after they missed a hard deadline.
Scarred by Covid-19 -- which killed millions, shredded economies and crippled health systems -- nations have spent two years trying to forge binding commitments on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Negotiators failed to clinch a deal ahead of this week's World Health Assembly -- the annual gathering of WHO's 194 member states -- the deadline for concluding the talks.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened the assembly Monday, saying he was confident that an agreement would be secured.
"Of course, we all wish that we had been able to reach a consensus on the agreement in time for this health assembly and crossed the finish line," he said.