WHO Director-General warns of global pandemic preparedness

The world is not prepared enough for pandemics. This statement was made by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, writes sb.by.

According to TASS, before the high-level meeting on cooperation in the fight against pandemics at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Ghebreyesus indicated on the social network X that within the framework of the General Assembly, “world leaders will meet to reaffirm their commitments to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics.”.

- The political declaration clearly shows that the world is still not ready enough for them, Ghebreyesus said.

It expects countries to take "concrete action" to agree on a system of access to pathogens and benefit-sharing, which will be formalized as an annex to the agreement to combat pandemics.

- What is needed now is for leaders to move from political commitment to concrete action and complete the annex to the pandemic agreement, he said.

A high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is scheduled for September 25. The meeting will adopt a clear, action-oriented political declaration agreed by consensus in intergovernmental negotiations.

In May 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted an agreement to combat pandemics, which has not yet entered into force. The main obstacle remains the harmonization of the system of exchange of potentially dangerous pathogens and derivatives of medical products - vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tests. On this issue, the interests of developed countries with vaccine technology and the needs of less well-off countries in need of support are very different. The WHO pointed to the risk of a sharp shortage of doctors in the world by 2030 due to aging