Covid outbreak taught us that health is most valuable asset: WHO Chief

The World Health Organization’s head has cautioned that the Covid epidemic is far from ending and urged people to be vaccinated.

During the 75th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, which began yesterday in Bhutan, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remarked, “The epidemic is far from done. The virus is continually spreading and evolving… If the epidemic has taught us anything, it is that health is the most valuable asset on the planet. Every day, a commodity must be valued, prized, and battled for. Not as a luxury for the wealthy, but as a basic human right “.

He speculated that the global reduction in Covid cases may be related to poor testing rates. According to WHO data, 4.5 million new Covid cases were recorded last week, a 16% decrease from the previous week. Deaths were also down 13%, with around 13,500 people dying. The UN health agency went on to say that coronavirus infection was down everywhere in the globe, while fatalities were down everywhere except in Southeast Asia, where they were up 15%, and the Western Pacific, where they were up 3%.

WHO Director-General Tedros has cautioned that the arrival of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as the likely appearance of a more deadly new Covid type, may result in an increase in hospitalizations and fatalities.

Tedros stated that vaccination rates are still unacceptably low, even in developed countries, adding that 30% of health workers and 20% of the elderly are unvaccinated.
Tedros hoped that by the end of June, all nations will have vaccinated 70% of their people.

However, 136 nations failed to meet the aim, with 66 still having coverage below 40%.

Last month, the WHO director stated that only ten nations had less than 10% coverage, with the majority of them experiencing humanitarian crises.

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“One-third of the world’s population, including two-thirds of health workers and three-quarters of elderly persons in low-income nations, remains unvaccinated.” All governments, regardless of wealth level, must do more to vaccinate the most vulnerable people, enable access to life-saving treatments, continue testing and sequencing, and implement targeted, proportionate measures to prevent transmission and save lives.”

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