World Health Organisation Briefing on COVID-19
Date of Meeting: July 10, 2020
Meeting Organizer: World Health Organisation
ISJC Staff Present: Major Victoria Edmonds
Reporter: Major Victoria Edmonds
Which SDG does this topic cover? 1, 3
Type of meeting: Health Briefing
Brief summary of presentation of information made
COVID-19, today the world recorded 12 million cases.
In the last six weeks cases have more than doubled.
Across all walks of life, we are all being tested to the limit. For those in poverty, with little or no access to quality health services, it is not only COVID-19 that threatens lives and livelihoods.
Other diseases like measles, polio and malaria all thrive when immunization is paused and supply chains for medical supplies are interrupted.
WHO continues to work with partners to ensure that the poorest and most marginalized are prioritized.
That means restarting routine immunization and ensuring that medical supplies reach health workers across the world.
There is a lot of work still to be done.
From countries where there is exponential growth, to places that are loosening restrictions and now starting to see cases rise.
We need leadership, community participation and collective solidarity.
Only aggressive action combined with national unity and global solidarity can turn this pandemic around.
There are many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control.
And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi – a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai – a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is key to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.
As we continue to tackle the pandemic, we are also looking into the origins of the virus.
Two WHO experts are currently en route to China to meet with fellow scientists and learn about the progress made in understanding the animal reservoir for COVID-19 and how the disease jumped between animals and humans.
This will help lay the groundwork for the WHO-led international mission into the origins.
For all the challenges that COVID-19 has caused, it has also shown the way forward for other challenges that threaten humanity.
The crisis of growing antimicrobial resistance is a slow-motion tsunami, where despite the rise in resistant infections, the research and development of new antibiotics has not caught up.
Unless we take quick and sustained action, we risk a doomsday global scenario where common injuries and illnesses return to become major killers.
The AMR Action Fund aims to tackle this by strengthening and accelerating the research and development of antibiotics through game-changing investments into biotechnology companies around the world.
Whether it is COVID-19 or AMR, the best shot we have is to work together in national unity and global solidarity.
Thank You.
What was of particular significance to share with The Salvation Army globally?
Keep reminding those who come into our building to social distance, wear mask and the use hand sanitizers.
Tags: SDG1: No Poverty, SDG3: Good Health and Well-Being