WHO expert worried Covid-19 “amnesia” will lead to another pandemic

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Dec 02, 2020 06:00 am

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) top emergency expert has said that the world risked future pandemics if it suffered "amnesia" and did not learn from the current coronavirus crisis.

"I have seen the amnesia that seems to descend upon the world after a traumatic event, and that's understandable," Dr Mike Ryan said in Geneva.

"But if we do this again like we did after Sars, like we did after H5N1, like we did after H1N1 pandemic, if we continue to ignore the realities of what emerging and dangerous pathogens can do to our civilisation, then we are likely to experience the same or worse again within our lifetimes," he said.

Dr Ryan also took a swipe at developed nations, saying that northern countries had been running healthcare systems "like low-cost airlines".

"Well, we're paying a price for that now, not having that extra-surge capacity built into the system - seeing health as a cost centre in our economy, seeing health as a drain on development, as dragging back the economy, and we need to re-address what that means," he said. - REUTERS