Five million lives worldwide have already been lost to Covid, and the WHO/ACT-A grimly predict another 5 million more lives will be lost in months to come. Alarmingly also, Covid cases will swell from the 260 million confirmed so far to 460 million by the end of 2022.
The damage from Covid has been so catastrophic that, when the World Health Assembly (WHA) meets in special session, starting 29 November, its task is nothing less than preventing such a tragedy from re-occurring. The damage from Covid has been so ruinous that we now need an internationally binding agreement to prevent future outbreaks from ever becoming pandemics again.
In the words of WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, a new agreement should be underpinned by a high-level commitment to health for all grounded in equity and solidarity between nations. Not only should all people have fair access to what…