On Wednesday, the World Health Organization unveiled a new project to improve nations’ capacity to prepare for and respond to an additional catastrophic pandemic like COVID-19.
According to the WHO, this year’s COVID mortality toll has significantly decreased.
The recommendations offer a coordinated strategy for dealing with any respiratory pathogen that may be present or pose a hazard, including coronaviruses that can rapidly change into several types and the flu.
Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent public health emergencies, the new Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats Initiative, or PRET, includes the most contemporary tools and methods for shared learning and group action.
At a press conference, WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus announced that the organization would unveil its fourth Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SRP) next week, following the release of the first SRP in February 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 emergency.
This update describes how nations might “transition over a two-year period from an emergency response to long-term, sustained management of COVID-19.”
We find the steady decrease in COVID-19 reported deaths—which have fallen by 95% since the year’s beginning—to be very encouraging.
Ghebreyesus noted that several nations are experiencing increases, and that 14,000 people had died from COVID in the last four weeks.
He said that roughly one in ten infections had led to what is known as “long COVID,” implying that hundreds of millions of individuals will eventually require longer-term treatment.
According to him, the virus is still evolving and is still capable of causing fresh outbreaks of illness and fatalities as seen by the appearance of the new XBB.1.16 variety.
“We remain hopeful that sometime this year, we will be able to declare an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. “But this virus is here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other infectious diseases,” he said.
The UN health chief joked that the acronym for the new PRET initiative was deliberate, “prêt” means “ready” in French.
The UN health chief joked that the acronym for the new PRET initiative was deliberate, “prêt” means “ready” in French.
“Pret adopts an integrated approach to pandemic planning by focusing on groups of pathogens and the systems they affect, as opposed to focusing on particular pathogens or diseases.
He said that pandemics were by definition global phenomena, highlighting the significance of international cooperation. He stated that PRET would first concentrate on respiratory infections, such as influenza, coronaviruses, RSV, and as-yet-unknown pathogens.
But it’s also intended to encourage sectoral collaboration. A pandemic is not merely a health crisis, as COVID-19 showed. It has an impact on a variety of things, including economy, education, trade, travel, and food supply systems.
“PRET, therefore, will engage as many sectors of human activity as possible, including civil society, religious groups and young people,” he said.
He said PRET answered the call for technical guidance, and support for promoting and strengthening integrated preparedness and response, as outlined in World Health Assembly resolutions.
