The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on world leaders to prepare for the next pandemic now in order to avoid a battering as seen in the case of COVID-19.
The call comes as the world is still struggling to suppress COVID-19 infections as national caseloads continue to rise steadily in most countries.
“We must prepare for the next pandemic now. We’ve seen this past year that countries with robust health emergency preparedness infrastructure have been able to act quickly to contain and control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus,"said WHO in a news release.
In efforts to ensure the World is better prepared for the next health crisis, a draft resolution has been put forward to the World Health Assembly seeking to strengthen member states’ preparedness for health emergencies through more robust compliance with the International Health Regulations.
The resolution calls on the global health community to ensure that all countries are better equipped to detect and respond to cases of COVID-19 and other dangerous infectious diseases.
The call by WHO comes as the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections globally have surpassed the 48.21 million mark, with a death toll exceeding 1.22 million.