The head of the World Health Organization insisted on Monday it was “now or never” to strike a landmark global accord on tackling future pandemics, after the United States withdrew from negotiations.
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WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said no country could protect itself from the next pandemic on its own – three days after US President Donald Trump’s administration told the UN health agency it was leaving the pandemic agreement talks.
“We are at a crucial point as you move to finalise the pandemic agreement in time for the World Health Assembly” in May, Tedros told WHO members at the opening of the week-long 13th round of negotiations in Geneva.
“It really is a case of now or never. But I am confident that you will choose ‘now’ because you know what is at stake.
“You remember the hard-won lessons of Covid-19, which left an estimated 20 million of our brothers and sisters dead, and which continues to kill.”
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A further one-week session is planned before the WHO’s annual assembly.