The World Health Assembly (WHA) opened its 24th session and rejected a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate as an observer on its agenda, the fifth consecutive year that it has rejected Taiwan-related proposals. While China urged the countries concerned to stop using the Taiwan issue to interfere in its internal affairs, the issue of the origin of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak remains a focus of attention for many, with several countries calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) to support a more transparent and independent second phase of expert investigation into the origin of the Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak.
The World Health Assembly (WHA) opened its deliberations on the 24th, and French President Emmanuel Macron pointed out that transparency and data sharing are absolutely key to the investigation of the origin of the Wuhan pneumonia pandemic, while the U.S. and U.K. governments called on the WHO on the 24th to support experts to conduct a more transparent and independent second phase of the investigation into the origin of the Wuhan pneumonia virus. The investigation.
The 74th World Health Assembly was held by video from May 24 to June 1, and the day before it opened, the Wall Street Journal cited a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that said three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virus Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sought hospital treatment in November 2019, just months before China disclosed the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on the World Health Organization to support expert investigations into the origins of the outbreak and to avoid interference or politicization of the investigation, and the U.S. wants a more transparent and independent second phase of the WHO investigation, White House spokeswoman Pasaki said on 24 May, adding that “for months we have been pressuring to facilitate an international investigation led by the World Health Organization and in coordination and cooperation with global partner countries We have been pressing for months to facilitate an international investigation led by the WHO and coordinated with global partners, and need data and information from the Chinese government.
The British Prime Minister’s Office also said the WHO investigation into the origins of Wuhan pneumonia must be robust, transparent and independent, and that all possible narratives need to be explored.
The World Health Assembly opened on the 24th, and the origin of the Wuhan pneumonia virus remains the focus of much attention, with WHO inviting French President Macron and other leaders to speak.
Macron expressed support for a more transparent and independent investigation by WHO experts on the origins of the Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak in his speech, saying, “I support the proposal to empower WHO to investigate potential pandemic pathogens, which would allow WHO to have rapid access to all relevant territories.”
Macron also suggested, in response to China not allowing WHO experts access to the outbreak site in the first instance, that a rapid response mission must be adopted to enable the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate retroactively on the ground at the first signs of an outbreak.
Macron said that the global lesson learned from the outbreak crisis is that we are all a community of life and that no one country can save the world and no one country can do it alone, so there must be solidarity and cooperation whether at the national regional or international level.
The French president reiterated the need to strengthen WHO through reform, noting that the organization “must be strong in times of crisis, responsive enough in emergencies, solid and fully transparent in the face of controversy to inspire confidence, and with clear and transparent governance, so that it is not subject to any diplomatic pressure and cannot be suspected of any such pressure”.
Macron also announced that the Global Health Academy will open in Lyon, France, in 2023 with the aim of training public officials, business leaders and the driving force of global civil society on global health issues. He said that “the virus pandemic and the trail of misinformation left us with the importance of science and strong health systems” and that “access to scientific data, reliable information, and training for the public as well as health workers are essential in the current fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Global Health Academy, which aims to be the reference training institution in public health, will offer its first catalog of online training courses starting this summer, and WHO notes that the need for training is enormous, as there will be a shortage of 18 million health workers in the least developed countries by 2030.
Recent Comments