The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated its call for China to provide data and access to determine the origins of Covid-19, calling it a "moral and scientific imperative", Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
In a statement on Monday, the organization stressed that transparency, sharing and international cooperation are essential to prevent and prepare for future pandemics.
"We continue to call on China to share data and access so that we can understand the origins of the coronavirus (Covid-19). This is a moral and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing and cooperation between countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics," the WHO said in a statement.
The WHO described how on December 31, 2019, its office in China took a media statement from health authorities in Wuhan about cases of "viral pneumonia" in the city.
"In the weeks, months and years that have since unfolded, Covid-19 has come to shape our lives and our world," the UN health agency said, adding:
"As we mark this milestone, let us take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, to acknowledge those suffering from Covid-19 and the... "coronavirus debt, to express gratitude to the health workers who have sacrificed so much to care for us, and to commit to learning from Covid-19 to build a healthier tomorrow." In December 2021, alarmed by the devastation caused by Covid-19, countries decided to begin drafting an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The 194 WHO member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on most of what it should include, but have "stuck" on on practical issues.
A major fault line is between Western nations with large pharmaceutical sectors and poorer countries that fear being left out when the world is eventually hit by the next pandemic.
While the outstanding issues are few, they include the heart of the agreement: the obligation to quickly share emerging pathogens and then the pandemic-fighting benefits that come from them, such as vaccines, AFP notes.