'With Even Deadlier Potential’: WHO Chief Cautions Against Future Pandemics

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the world should be prepared for a future virus that could be even deadlier than COVID-19.

Speaking at the annual health assembly in Geneva on Tuesday, he stressed on the importance of prioritising negotiations to prevent future pandemics.

The WHO chief cautioned that the end of the global health emergency does not mean the end of the threat posed by the virus, pointing out the possibility of new variants causing surges of disease.

Tedros acknowledged that, while the pandemic has slowed progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is important to pursue them with zeal and urgency, as a guiding framework.

The SDGs aim to ensure universal health coverage, improved protection from health emergencies, and better overall health and wellbeing for everyone.