Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom has said that Disease X is a global problem that we need to be prepared for.
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the WHO head talked the next possible global epidemic, dubbed Disease X.
The name was first added to the WHO list in 2018, before the emergence of Covid-19.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom said, “You can call Covid the first Disease X and it may happen again in the future.”
He acknowledged that some people will say that such a warning will spread fear, but pointed out that it is better to be prepared for everything because it has happened many times in our history and now we have to start preparing for the next epidemic.
Dr. Tedros said that the world learned from the Covid epidemic how to deal with the next epidemic.
WHO discussed plans for a global agreement to prevent future pandemics in 2021.
The head of the WHO said in Davos that the agreement to prevent epidemics will be the most important to protect the world from future epidemics. So far, many countries could not agree on the terms of this agreement.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom stated that the negotiations between the member states are going on and WHO expects the agreement to be reached in time. “If our generation does not do it, we do not think the next generation will do it. Because this is about a common enemy and without a shared response, starting from the preparedness … we will face the same problem as COVID,” added the WHO chief.
Reminding his audience that the deadline for the pandemic agreement is May 2024, he said that he hopes countries will reach this pandemic agreement by that time.
He went on to say that if this generation who has first-hand experienced a pandemic cannot do it, he does not think the next generation will be able to do so.
“So for our children and grandchildren’s sake, … we have to prepare the world for the future,” added Ghebreyesus.
