Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was talking at the beginning of a meeting of the intergovernmental working group on the WHO pandemic agreement, which takes place in Geneva until Friday.
It occurs four months after countries adopted the world’s first pandemic treaty, which called “a generational achievement.”
Tedros said that the next step “is to bring this historical achievement to fruition” ending the pathogen access system and the benefit exchange system (PAB).
He urged countries to use this week to pave the way to develop the platform, with the ultimate goal of adoption next year.
“It is of interest to each country that this process is not delayed anymore. Because, as we all know, the next pandemic or the important emergency of global health is not a matter of whether, but when,” he said.
DR Congo: The UN and the partners support Ebola’s response in the province of Kasai
The Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) faces an Ebola outbreak in the province of Kasai, located in the southwest, with 35 confirmed cases that include 27 deaths.
The UN and the partners are supporting the government in the response, the secretary of the Secretary General in New York said on Monday.
Stéphane Dujarric told journalists that the partners who work in health have facilitated the delivery of more than 350 doses of the Ebola vaccine to the Bulape health zone, the epicenter of the outbreak.
“We have also mobilized rapid response equipment that focuses on the detection of cases and surveillance, clinical cases management, infection and prevention control, and risk communication and community participation,” he added.
Meanwhile, health partners are mobilizing to contain the outbreak.
However, he warned that the gaps in medical supplies and logistics capacity are hindering the answer, and urgent financing is needed.
Ukraine: dozens of victims reported in weekend hostilities
The hostilities continued during the weekend in Ukraine, with the Donetsk region particularly affected, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reported Monday on Monday.
Several civilians have been killed and 40 injured in the region since Friday, while local authorities also documented damage to almost 190 civil facilities, including homes, schools, a hospital and a pharmacy.
Other parts of Ukraine also experienced hostilities that damaged homes, farmland and other civil infrastructure. Almost 5,000 people remain without electricity in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Ocha said that continuous violence has forced more than 2,700 people, including approximately 340 children, to flee their homes between September 12 and 14.
