‘In our hands, COVID pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it’: WHO chief Dr Tedros
By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 25, 2021, 9:30 AM IST"The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It is in our hands. We have all the tools we need: effective public health tools and effective medical tools. But the world has not used those tools well. With almost 50,000 deaths a week, the pandemic is far from over," Dr Tedros was quoted by ANI as saying in his address to the World Health Summit in Berlin.
Geneva: The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday said that the coronavirus pandemic will come to an end when all the countries start using the available health tools effectively.
"The pandemic will end when the world chooses to end it. It is in our hands. We have all the tools we need: effective public health tools and effective medical tools. But the world has not used those tools well. With almost 50,000 deaths a week, the pandemic is far from over," Dr Tedros was quoted by ANI as saying in his address to the World Health Summit in Berlin.
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The WHO chief called on G20 countries that have already vaccinated 40 per cent of their population to actively engage in the COVAX mechanism, as well as the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).
Also read: 'Extremely essential, often takes longer': Top WHO official on approval of emergency use of Covaxin
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday, called on the G20 countries to help collect USD 8 billion to ensure a fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world.
Speaking at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Guterres said that earlier in October, he joined the WHO chief to launch a global strategy for Covid-19 vaccination, which suggests a credible and cost-effective plan to deliver vaccines to 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of this year and 70 per cent by mid-2022.
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus infections recorded so far in eastern Europe surpassed 20 million on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, as the region grapples with its worst outbreak since the pandemic started and inoculation efforts lag. Countries in the region have the lowest vaccination rates in Europe, with less than half of the population having received a single dose.
(With inputs from agency)
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