The head of the health organization said it’s a ’matter of when, not if.’
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) again issued a warning about a so-called “Disease X” pandemic, saying it’s a “matter of when, not if.”
At the World Government Summit, held in the United Arab Emirates last week, Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus claimed to members that his prior predictions about a virus like COVID-19 came true. He again said that the international community is unprepared for another pandemic.
“Today I stand before you in the aftermath of COVID-19 with millions of people dead, with social, economic, and political shocks that reverberate to this day,” the health official said to the crowd, which included controversial World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab.
“It may be caused by an influenza virus, or a new coronavirus or a new pathogen we don’t even know about yet—what we call Disease X. And as things stand, the world remains unprepared for the next Disease X, and the next pandemic.”
He did not provide any more details about the alleged next pandemic, only saying that governments around the world are not prepared.
But he did say that COVID-19 was a “disease X,” calling it “a new pathogen causing a new disease. But there will be another Disease X, or a Disease Y or a Disease Z.” The term “disease X” was first used in 2018, he said, adding that “the same time as I spoke here at this World Governments Summit, as a placeholder for a disease we don’t even know about yet, but for which we can nonetheless prepare.”
The WHO director, who received criticism early on in the pandemic for his apparently close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, warned that “the painful lessons we learned are in danger of being forgotten as attention turns to the many other crises confronting our world.”
In January, Mr. Tedros drew headlines when he mentioned “Disease X” at a World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland. He called on governments around the world to sign a WHO-backed pandemic agreement.
