According to the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, Covid-19 will not be the last pandemic the world will have to face and, therefore, it is urgent to be ready to face any other similar crisis.

In his message on the eve of the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness, he noted that infectious diseases continue to be a threat to countries and that any outbreak – wherever it happens – can become a pandemic.

In this regard, he called for increased investment to improve surveillance, early detection and rapid response plans, especially in the most vulnerable states.

He also called for strengthening local primary health care systems to prevent them from collapsing, ensuring that all people have equitable access to vaccines and achieving universal health coverage.

Guterres emphasized the need to foster global solidarity so that all countries are in a position to stop the spread of infectious diseases as soon as they detect an outbreak.

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