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WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 4:14
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 SEPTEMBER 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1.Wide shot, conference room
2.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
"From endless warnings about the world being under-prepared, all countries need to dig in together and invest to ensure a pandemic of this magnitude and severity never happens again. With the right political and financial commitment and investment now, we can prevent and mitigate future pandemics."
3.Wide shot, conference room
4.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General:
"In a world that is heating up and where intensified human activity is shrinking wild spaces, the likelihood of spillover of a novel pathogen from animals to humans is increasing. We know for certain that there will be future novel viruses and another so called disease X. But we also have the tools and know that the only way confront these global threats is as a global community, united in solidarity and committed to long-term cooperation."
5.Wide shot, conference room
6.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former WHO Director-General and co-chair GPMB:
"While our assessment of the global COVID-19 response is harsh, we strongly do believe that we can prevent the next pandemic if we learn its lessons and take the actions needed rapidly boldly and collectively."
7.Wide shot, conference room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former WHO Director-General and co-chair GPMB:
"To prepare for the next pandemic, we have to have a completely different level of investment in preparedness, and it means, you know, it sounds not so much. If we have $4.50 per capita across the world, we can do what is necessary to have a good preparedness. But of course, as I said, you know, preparedness, you can measure in billions of dollars but the cost of a pandemic is in trillions and trillions of dollars."
9.Wide shot, conference room
10.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former WHO Director-General and co-chair GPMB:
"There was not a lack of warning. It was not only us warning people and leaders last year, it has been warned again and again over the last 10 years since SARS, H1N1, MERS and then of course Ebola. And we should have been better prepared. Also, we will need to improve the International Health Regulations."
11. Wide shot, conference room
12.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan EXD, WHO Health Emergencies Programme:
"So the situation in Yemen could not be more serious from the humanitarian perspective. I won't comment on the political situation except to say that this is a catastrophic humanitarian disaster, with the health of Yemenis being affected in every single part of their lives from the very youngest to the very oldest. You've all seen the images on TV. You've all seen the results of years of geopolitical competition and ultimately the ultimate price. The DG spoke earlier of the price of global leaders, not cooperating in COVID-19, the people of Yemen have been paying that price for years and will continue to pay it until the international community come together to end the true cause of their suffering, which is the war."
13.Wide shot, conference room
14.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan EXD, WHO Health Emergencies Programme:
"This pandemic has a long way to burn in our society. It is not burnt out. It is not burning out. It is not going away. And especially for those countries entering their winter season, in terms of people coming together more indoors, there is a lot of work to do in order to avoid amplification events, drive down transmission of this epidemic, protect the opening of schools and protect the most vulnerable in our society from severe disease and death."
15.Wide shot, conference room
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said "from endless warnings about the world being under-prepared, all countries need to dig in together and invest to ensure a pandemic of this magnitude and severity never happens again. With the right political and financial commitment and investment now, we can prevent and mitigate future pandemics."
Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (18 Sep), Tedros said, "in a world that is heating up and where intensified human activity is shrinking wild spaces, the likelihood of spillover of a novel pathogen from animals to humans is increasing.”
He continued, “we know for certain that there will be future novel viruses and another so called disease X. But we also have the tools and know that the only way confront these global threats is as a global community, united in solidarity and committed to long-term cooperation."
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former WHO Director-General and co-chair GPMB told reporters, "while our assessment of the global COVID-19 response is harsh, we strongly do believe that we can prevent the next pandemic if we learn its lessons and take the actions needed rapidly boldly and collectively."
She said, "to prepare for the next pandemic, we have to have a completely different level of investment in preparedness, and it means, you know, it sounds not so much. If we have $4.50 per capita across the world, we can do what is necessary to have a good preparedness. But of course, as I said, you know, preparedness, you can measure in billions of dollars but the cost of a pandemic is in trillions and trillions of dollars."
Brundtland also said, "there was not a lack of warning. It was not only us warning people and leaders last year, it has been warned again and again over the last 10 years since SARS, H1N1, MERS and then of course Ebola. And we should have been better prepared. Also, we will need to improve the International Health Regulations."
On Yemen, WHO’s Dr Mike Ryan EXD said, “the situation in Yemen could not be more serious from the humanitarian perspective.”
He said, “I won't comment on the political situation except to say that this is a catastrophic humanitarian disaster, with the health of Yemenis being affected in every single part of their lives from the very youngest to the very oldest. You've all seen the images on TV. You've all seen the results of years of geopolitical competition and ultimately the ultimate price. The DG spoke earlier of the price of global leaders, not cooperating in COVID-19, the people of Yemen have been paying that price for years and will continue to pay it until the international community come together to end the true cause of their suffering, which is the war."
Ryan also said, "this pandemic has a long way to burn in our society. It is not burnt out. It is not burning out. It is not going away. And especially for those countries entering their winter season, in terms of people coming together more indoors, there is a lot of work to do in order to avoid amplification events, drive down transmission of this epidemic, protect the opening of schools and protect the most vulnerable in our society from severe disease and death."
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