After three years and more than 7 million deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this Friday (5) the end of covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. The pandemic status, however, does not change, as the virus remains disseminated globally.
According to WHO technical lead for covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, a public health emergency of international concern is defined as an extraordinary event that constitutes a public health risk for several countries due to the global spread of a disease and that potentially requires a coordinated international response.
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“This definition indicates that the situation is serious, sudden, unusual and unexpected, carries public health implications that go beyond the barriers of affected countries, and may require immediate international action.”
A pandemic happens when a new virus affects the global population. “The idea of declaring a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of alert from the World Health Organization, is to coordinate immediate actions before the situation becomes even more serious and potentially a pandemic,” explained the technical leader.
“In the case of covid-19, we have both situations: a public health emergency of international importance and also a pandemic. Although the director-general spoke of the world’s ability to unite to end the emergency at a global level in 2023, we can still continue with the pandemic for a long time because this virus is here with us to stay. Which means we have to take action, improve our entire system so that we can reduce the impact of covid-19 going forward.”
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