Observer Report
Geneva
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that it was “impressed” by Pakistan’s efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
WHO’s Twitter account, in multiple tweets quoting its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that it was “impressed by the progress being made” by certain countries, among which was Pakistan for its “commitment to establishing temporary isolation units”.
Dr Ghebreyesus included UAE among those countries as well for “the rapid scaling up of testing”. It also praised “active outreach to 70 million people” in Iran through a national programme and the use of “polio assets” in combating the pandemic by Afghanistan and Somalia.
He, however, urged countries to “do more in spite of this clear progress”, adding that it was coordinating a “vast range of research endeavours” to investigate different treatment options for Covid-19.
The WHO chief also revealed that the international health body has produced technical guidelines on “every aspect of the Covid-19 response”. The organisation’s training has been accessed by more than 2m health workers, he said, adding that the training was being expanded to reach millions more.
Talking about the WHO’s recently released strategy for preparedness and response to the pandemic, he said that it incorporated the “most recent learning from country experiences from across the globe”.
Dr Ghebreyesus requested countries to adopt a “whole-of-government” approach. “We call on countries to implement proven public health measures aggressively: detect, test, isolate and care for every case, and trace and quarantine every contact,” he added.
“We urge you to pay careful attention to ensuring that essential public health services continue safely and effectively. WHO remains committed to standing with all of you in solidarity to fight the virus and save lives,” Dr Ghebreyesus concluded.
