WHO Report Outlines Recommendations for Preventing Another Pandemic

The report called for a new "pandemic treaty."


The report called for a new “pandemic treaty.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic gradually reaching a point of manageability thanks to the vaccines, the question has begun to turn to what, precisely, went wrong with the world’s handling of the coronavirus’ initial outbreak. To determine this, the World Health Organization has appointed a panel to conduct a thorough investigation of how every major country reacted and responded to the outbreak and ensuing pandemic. The resulting report put the reality of the situation plainly: the COVID-19 pandemic was a “preventable disaster” caused by “weak links at every point in the chain of preparedness and response.”

Many world leaders “failed to act fast enough when COVID-19 appeared,” according to the report. “They must not keep making the same mistakes.”

In an effort to prepare for another global-scale pandemic event, the report made several recommendations for both the WHO and world leaders to help ensure that another outbreak of disease on the scale of COVID-19 doesn’t impact the world as harshly. These recommendations include an improved disease surveillance and alert system, producing and circulating vaccines as essential global common goods, scaling up production and availability of vital supplies like tests and oxygen in low- and mid-income countries, and voluntary licensing agreements for vaccine producers

September 27, 2021

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