WHO issues fresh warning over ‘next pandemic’

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the "next pandemic" the world will face is not a "theoretical risk" but an "epidemiological certainty."

The Geneva-based organization has voiced growing concerns about the possibility of another global pandemic following COVID-19, which claimed millions of lives worldwide.

Fears have intensified in recent weeks after a new virus emerged in China, just as WHO member states are in the middle of negotiations to establish a stronger global response plan for future pandemics.

"The COVID-19 pandemic may now seem like a distant memory, overtaken by conflict and geopolitical and economic disruption. But the next pandemic will not wait until things calm down," Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

"It could happen in 20 years or more, or it could happen tomorrow. But it will happen — and either way, we must be ready. This is not a theoretical risk; it is an epidemiological certainty," he added.

(QG - Source: Newsweek - Picture : © Unsplash)