The World Health Organization (WHO) has convened for this Friday the 14th meeting of the COVID-19 Emergency Committee, where, as announced on Tuesday by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will discuss whether the current situation of Covid-19 «continues to constitute a global emergency».
Therefore, following the meeting, convened under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), the Emergency Committee will report to the WHO Director-General on whether the Covid-19 pandemic still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
The Emergency Committee will also issue temporary recommendations to WHO and its Member States. A communiqué will be shared with the media following the conclusion of the meeting.
The IHR Emergency Committee for COVID-19 held its first meeting on January 22-23, 2020. On January 30, 2020, following its second meeting, the Committee informed the Director-General that the COVID-19 outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. Concern (PHEIC).
The Director General accepted the advice of the Emergency Committee and declared COVID-19 an ESPI on January 30, 2020. The Committee continues to meet, as required by the 2005 IHR, every 3 months to review whether COVID-19 still constitutes an ESPI and to review and reissue temporary recommendations.
THREE YEARS LATER «Almost exactly three years after declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, our highest level of alert, this week the Emergency Committee on Covid-19 will meet to discuss whether the current situation still constitutes a global emergency,» Tedros announced at a press conference on Tuesday.
However, Tedros warned that there has been an increase in deaths from the disease recently. In total, more than 170,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the past eight weeks. «That’s just the reported deaths; the actual number of deaths is much higher (…). While I am not going to pre-empt the advice of the Emergency Committee, I remain very concerned about the situation in many countries and the increasing number of deaths,» he added.
While acknowledging that the current situation is «clearly better» than it was three years ago, «when this pandemic first struck,» he stressed that the collective global response «is under pressure once again.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
