In his end-of-year speech, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighted among the most notable events on this calendar the declaration in May of the end point of the public health international emergency Covid-19.
“This marked the turning point for the world after three years of crisis, pain and loss for people everywhere. “I am glad to see that life has returned to normal,” he noted.
He also mentioned the conclusion of the mpox or monkeypox outbreak as a global health emergency and the approval of new vaccines against malaria, dengue and meningitis.
In this period, he recalled, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Belize were declared free of malaria and some tropical diseases were eliminated in different countries, including sleeping sickness in Ghana, trachoma in Benin, Mali and Iraq, and lymphatic filariasis in Bangladesh and Laos.
He highlighted that another vaccine-preventable disease, polio, is close to being eradicated and that 30 more countries have introduced the HPV vaccine in their efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.
In contrast, the WHO director pointed out that 2023 was also a year “of immense and avoidable suffering and threats to health.”
In this context he referred to the war between Israel and Hamas that has caused thousands of deaths, while hospitals and health personnel in Gaza suffer repeated attacks, “while aid efforts do not cover the needs of the population.”
He specified that as of December 22, only nine of the 36 health facilities in Gaza were partially functioning, and of them only four offered the most basic services in the north, which is why “we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire,” he insisted.
He also referred to other places in the world ravaged by war and armed conflict, such as Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia and Myanmar. “Without peace there is no health, and without health there can be no peace,” he said.
Another negative element is the cholera outbreaks, which he classified as a worrying situation, with a record number of more than 40 worldwide.
Furthermore, in terms of emergency preparedness and response, “gaps remain in global preparedness to prevent the next pandemic,” he said.
The WHO director general specified that governments are currently negotiating the first global agreement to protect communities from pandemics, a plan designed to address existing gaps in global collaboration, cooperation and equity.
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