The lack of global unity in the response to the coronavirus, a strategy for failure

With more than 300,000 deaths, COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees because of the lack of a joint strategy, as well as the inability to learn from the lessons of other epidemics such as H1N1, SARS and Ebola. UN leaders and their health agency called on countries to remember that health is not a luxury but a necessity, nor is it a cost, if not an investment in the well-being of all.

Countries have ignored the World Health Organization's recommendations and as a result COVID-19 has spread around the world and is now intensifying in the Global South, where its impact can be even more devastating, the UN Secretary-General warned this week. 

At the opening of the annual World Health Assembly, attended by the Organization's 194 member states, Guterres stressed that a massive, combined effort by all countries is needed to address the coronavirus pandemic that has "brought the world to its knees" despite the scientific and technological advances of recent decades. "We have seen some solidarity, but very little unity, in our response to COVID-19. Countries have followed different and even contradictory strategies, and so we are all paying the price," the secretary-general said.

Guterres reiterated his call for more nations to address the health impact of the pandemic, as well as its economic and social consequences. "Unless we control the spread of the virus, the economy will never recover," he said. He also recalled that support is needed to keep households afloat and businesses solvent with an emphasis on the most vulnerable such as women, the elderly, children and those who earn little. "While developed countries can do this on their own, we must greatly increase the resources available to the developing world," he said.

The secretary-general said "we are all paying a very high price" and reiterated his call for the G20 group of nations to consider launching a stimulus package equivalent to a double-digit percentage of global GDP.

"The World Health Organization is irreplaceable and needs more resources, particularly to support developing countries, which must now be our main concern," Guterres said. The secretary-general said protecting the most vulnerable is not a matter of charity or generosity but of self-interest. "The Global North cannot defeat COVID-19 unless the Global South defeats it at the same time," he said.

Acknowledging calls from some countries to investigate how the new coronavirus threat spread so quickly, the U.N. chief insisted it was too early to do so. "Lessons learned will be essential to effectively address similar challenges that may arise in the future," he said. "But now is not that time. Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work in solidarity to stop this virus and its devastating consequences. We cannot contemplate a future of fear and insecurity. Either we overcome this pandemic together, or we fail," concluded the UN headline.

World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said everyone has lessons to learn from the pandemic, and each country must assess itself and take note for the future.  "The World Health Organization is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement. For us, change is a constant. In fact, the existing independent accountability mechanisms are already working, since the beginning of the pandemic," he said.

This Monday, the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee released its first report on the pandemic, with several recommendations for both the Organization's Secretariat and Member States. "In that spirit, we welcome the resolution proposed before this Assembly, which calls for a gradual process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation. To be truly comprehensive, such an assessment must encompass the entire response of all actors, in good faith," he added.

Tedros announced that he will initiate an independent evaluation as soon as possible to review the experience gained and lessons learned, and to make recommendations for improving national and global pandemic preparedness and response. "But one thing is very clear. The world must never be the same. We do not need a review to tell us that we must all do everything in our power to ensure that this never happens again," the WHO chief said. 

Tedros recalled how reviews after the SARS, H1N1 and Ebola epidemics made clear the shortcomings of global health systems and issued numerous recommendations for countries to address them. "Some were implemented; others were not heard... The world does not need another plan, another system, another mechanism, another committee or another organization. It needs to strengthen, implement and finance the systems and organizations it has, including the World Health Organization," he stressed.

He added that the planet can no longer afford the "short-term amnesia" that has characterized its response to health security. "The world does not lack the tools, science or resources to make it safer from pandemics. What is lacking is the sustained commitment to use the tools, science and resources it has. That must change, and it must change today," he said.

So far, the Organization has reported more than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 infection and more than 300,000 lives lost. "The infection has moved like a forest fire," Tedros continued, before warning that early blood testing studies have consistently indicated that only one to two people in 10 appear to have come into contact with the disease, triggering an immune reaction shown by the existence of antibodies. "Even in the most affected regions, the proportion of the population with the revelatory antibodies is no more than 20%, and in most places, less than 10%," Tedros said. "In other words, the majority of the world's population remains susceptible to this virus."

No country has been spared from dealing with the infection, he added, before noting that while some are still "preparing for the worst," others have begun to ease the blockade measures.

"The World Health Organization fully understands and supports the desire of countries to stand up and get back to work," Tedros said, warning once again that this must be done carefully. "It is precisely because we want the fastest possible global recovery that we urge countries to proceed with caution. Countries that move too quickly, without putting in place the public health architecture to detect and suppress transmission, run a real risk of damaging their own recovery," he said.

Tedros said the current pandemic also risks undoing "decades of progress" against maternal and child mortality, VIH, malaria, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, mental health, polio, among other urgent cures.

Both António Guterres and Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus emphasized in their respective speeches that life in the world after the pandemic cannot continue in the same way.

"The pandemic is a tragedy. Both our response and our recovery must put human rights considerations at the centre. But it is also an opportunity to address the climate crisis and inequality of all kinds, including gaps in our social protection systems. It is an opportunity to rebuild differently and better," said the Secretary-General. Guterres argued that instead of returning to systems that were unsustainable, a leap must be made toward a future of clean energy, inclusion and equality and stronger social safety nets, including universal health coverage.

Tedros said COVID-19 is not only a global health emergency, it is a powerful demonstration of the fact that there is no health security without resilient health systems, or without addressing the social, economic, commercial and environmental determinants of health. "More than ever, the pandemic illustrates why investing in health must be at the heart of development. We are learning the hard way that health is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Health is not a reward for development. It is a precondition. Health is not a cost. It is an investment. Health is a path to security, prosperity and peace," he explained.