Pandemic treaty needed to strengthen health security: WHO

People queue up to get a dose of the Chinese-made Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine in Colombo. Pic/AFP

The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that the world needs a pandemic treaty to strengthen both the World Health Organization (WHO) and global health security, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday. "This is an idea whose time has come," said Ghebreyesus, in his closing remarks at the WHO's 74th World Health Assembly (WHA), which took place online from May 24 till Tuesday.

Ghebreyesus said that the defining characteristic of the pandemic is the lack of sharing: of data, information, pathogens, technologies and resources. "A treaty would foster improved sharing, trust and accountability, and provide the solid foundation on which to build other mechanisms for global health security. Pandemics are a threat to all of us. So we must work together to build a healthier, safer, fairer future -- for all of us," he said.

At the 2021 WHA, which had the theme "Ending this pandemic, preventing the next one", Ghebreyesus also called for a stronger and better-financed WHO.

"At present, pathogens have greater power than WHO. They are emerging more frequently in a planet out of balance. They exploit our interconnectedness and expose our inequities and divisions" he noted. "The safety of the world's people cannot rely solely on the goodwill of governments," Ghebreyesus said.

Lanka reopens international airport

Sri Lanka reopened its international airport for passengers in the midst of the current Covid-19 lockdown with the first flight with 53 passengers landing from Qatar. However, those with a travel record to India and Vietnam over the last 14 days would not be allowed to disembark at the Colombo airport, said a senior Civil Aviation official, P A Jayakantha.

Malaysia enters 2 weeks of lockdown

Malaysia's 32.75 million population woke up to two weeks of "total lockdown" on Tuesday, with only essential businesses allowed to operate and people told to stay within 10 km of their homes. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said late on Monday that his government would spend the equivalent of $1.2 billion to offset the economic impact of the measures, DPA news agency reported.

Peru records sharp rise in Covid deaths

Peru announced a sharp increase in its Covid-19 death toll, saying there have been more than 180,000 fatalities since the pandemic hit the country early last year. The announcement was made in the presidential palace during the presentation of a report by a working group commissioned to analyse and update the death toll. The results of the study put the new toll at 180,764 in a population of about 32.6 million, compared to recent data indicating that 69,342 people had died from Covid-19.

Israel set to lift curbs completely

Following a sharp drop in new Covid-19 infections and severe illnesses, Israel is almost completely lifting government restrictions imposed to halt the spread of the virus, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday. According to the announcement, regulations under the so-called Green Passport will expire the same day, which means that in future public institutions will be open to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, reports dpa news agency.

Also Read: Global bids for Covid-19 vaccine: Only Sputnik left in fray

3,52,685
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

17,08,00,205
Total no. of cases worldwide

35,51,771
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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