Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — director of the World Health Organization (WHO) — is warning against “politicizing” the coronavirus pandemic.
During a video conference aired at the Dubai-based World Government Summit, Tedros noted the potentially problematic consequences of world leaders focusing on the divisiveness that comes from relating a public health matter to political views. according to The Associated Press.
“The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself, it’s the lack of global solidarity and global leadership,” Tedros said. “We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world.”
While Tedros did not specifically name President Donald Trump, his current statement echoes his previous remarks directed toward the U.S. president amid his threat to defund the WHO.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that, indeed, the world was not prepared,” Tedros said. “Globally, the pandemic is still accelerating.”
At the start of the pandemic, the first 1 million cases were reported in the first three months. However, the last million cases have been reported in just eight days which signals an accelerated uptick in case rates, according to Tedros.
See the view the full conference below:
Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros https://t.co/pr6gUsfZTf
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 22, 2020
In addition to the warning against politicizing the pandemic, Dr. David Nabarro also shed light on what should be expected after a viable vaccine is created.
He warned that the vaccine would not result in rapid changes. In fact, he insisted it would likely take up to two and a half years to achieve universal access to the vaccine.
“Even if there’s a candidate by the end of the year, the safety and efficacy tests will take some time,” he said. “And then the effort has to be put into producing large amounts of vaccine so everyone in the world can get it and then organizing the vaccination programs.”
Tedros’ latest remarks follow months of opposition and criticism from Trump. Back in April, the president accused the WHO of being “China-centric” in its handling of the virus.
Trump also claimed the health agency withheld information during the early stage of the pandemic which ultimately led to his decision to defund the agency.
As of Monday afternoon, there are more than 9.1 million cases worldwide. A total of 471,759 people across the world have died from COVID-19 and over 4.8 million people have recovered.
