The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, believes that the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic will be announced as early as 2023.
He said this while receiving the Thomas Francis Jr. medal for his contribution to health care, reports press service .
Ghebreyesus recalled that March 11 marked three years since the WHO declared a pandemic in connection with the outbreak of COVID-19. And on January 30, 2020, a public health emergency of international importance was declared.
"I am sure that in 2023 we will be able to say that the coronavirus pandemic is over and now there is no emergency in the field of health care," Gebreyesus said.
Nearly 7 million deaths from COVID-19 have been reported to date, but the head of the organization noted that the true death toll is much higher.
However, now the world, he said, is in a better position than at any time during the pandemic.
"For the first time, the weekly number of reported deaths is lower than three years ago, when we first used the word pandemic. The improvement is significant. I am confident that at some point this year we will be able to say that COVID-19 has ended as a public health emergency of international concern and as a pandemic," Gebreyesus said.
He also mentioned the necessity and importance of scientific research and international cooperation among the "lessons of the pandemic".
"Some countries with the most advanced medical care have been hit by COVID-19. Conversely, countries with fewer resources have achieved much more because they have invested in public health. That is why the WHO constantly calls for this," he said.
