The World Health Organisation, WHO has called for more investments that will help it secure public health appropriately against the threat of the next pandemic.
The call for these funds was made on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 by the WHO’s Assistant Director-General, Health Emergency Intelligence as well as former Director-General (D.G.) of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu in an interview with The Guardian.
Ihekweazu said that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the world to the threat that pandemics wield which should, in turn, inform better preparedness levels for epidemics and pandemics which would lead to a more coordinated response.
His speech read, “COVID-19 has been an unprecedented public health emergency. Despite its impact, I think it has led to a stronger focus on the importance of epidemic and pandemic preparedness. We are seeing a convergence of political will and public interest in strengthening health security in countries but also at the regional and global levels.
“We must rapidly increase funding and make these funding rapidly available, to improve preparedness across countries. Global health institutions like WHO need to be stronger in coordinating global response activities and we have begun to see these improvements such as with the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. We need to strengthen collaboration both within and between countries and this is an area that the new Hub is working very hard on.”
Ihekweazu also commended the efforts and political will of the Nigerian government for its in combating the outbreaks of Lassa fever in conjunction with local epidemiologists and health workers.