Even as China battles with rising cases of the Covid-19 virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is hopeful that the year 2023 will see the end of Covid pandemic and Mpox emergencies. The comment by WHO came as a relief for the world which is reeling from the virus since 2019 and millions of people have lost thier life.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) asserted on Wednesday that the primary lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic to the countries is to be ever-ready against such outbreaks.
"Last week, less than 10,000 people lost their lives. That's still 10,000 too many and there is still a lot that all countries can do to save lives," he told a press conference.
"But we have come a long way. We are hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency," Dr. Tedros added.
The emergency committee of the health body, which advises the director general regarding public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC), will discuss how the end of the pandemic might look, in the January meeting.
“This virus will not go away. It's here to stay and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses. We still face many uncertainties and challenges in 2023. Only one in five people in low-income countries have been vaccinated,” Dr. Tedros said.
"Access to diagnostics and life-saving treatments for Covid-19 remains unacceptably unaffordable and unequal. The burden of the post-Covid-19 condition is only likely to increase and large gaps in surveillance remain," he added.
Dr. Tedros also talked about the Mpox outbreak which took the world by surprise. Around 110 countries in the world have reported more than 82,000 cases, but the mortality remained considerably low at 65.
"Thankfully, the number of weekly reported cases has declined more than 90 percent since I declared a PHEIC in July," said Tedros.
“If the current trend continues, we're hopeful that next year we'll also be able to declare an end to this emergency,” he added.
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