United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed some countries for dismissing the advice of the World Health Organization(WHO) during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
[Sound bite: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres]
"COVID-19 must be a wakeup call. It is time for an end to this hubris. Our deep feelings of powerlessness must lead to greater humility. Deadly global threats require a new unity and solidarity."
At a virtual meeting of the WHO's World Health Assembly on Monday, Guterres said the world is paying a high price after many countries followed different, sometimes contradictory, COVID-19 strategies.
[Sound bite: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres]
"The WHO is irreplaceable. It needs enhanced resources, particularly to provide support to developing countries, which must be our greatest concern. We are as strong as the weakest health systems. Protecting the developing world is not a matter of charity or generosity but a question of enlightened self-interest. The global north cannot defeat COVID 19, and that's the global south defeats it at the same time."
Because they ignored the WHO's recommendations the UN chief said the virus has spread throughout the world and is now heading towards southern countries where it could have even more devastating effects.