বাংলায় পড়ুন
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak as an international public health emergency concern. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization made the announcement and explained why WHO decided to declare this as an international emergency. Dr. Ghebreyesus said this would give WHO greater powers to guide and oversee the response, since this outbreak of coronavirus could be devastating if it spreads to countries with weak public health systems. Dr. Ghebreyesus said, “So far we have not seen any deaths outside China, for which we must be grateful. Although these numbers are relatively small compared to the number of cases in China, we must act together now to limit further spread. Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill prepared to deal with it. The decision is not a vote of no confidence in China”. Ghebreyesus reported that out of 9,320 confirmed cases so far, only 98 have been outside China. The General of WHO has, however, warned governments not to impose travel or trade restrictions on China since it would cause a global menace beyond control. Dr. Ghebreyesus spoke well of the steps taken by China to control the situation and said, “China is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak despite the severe social and economic impact that is having on China”.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, the Director of health foundation Wellcome Trust has agreed with Dr. Ghebreyesus and commented that WHO has taken the correct decision by declaring it as an international emergency. He said, “Countries, public health teams and researchers worldwide have been acting on this with the very highest level of concern for the last few weeks. But this virus has spread at unprecedented scale and speed, with cases passing between people in multiple countries across the world”. He added, “Declaration of an international emergency will undoubtedly sharpen governments’ focus on protecting citizens. But we must also step up as an international community to make sure no one is left behind – with all interventions, including public health measures, diagnostics, treatments and vaccines available to everyone. This will challenge the best-resourced countries but will have disproportionate impact on fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries”.
