WHO Again Asks China for Information on COVID-19 Origins

(Patria) - Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday again asked China to share data and information to clarify how the pandemic began.

"We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19. It is a moral and scientific imperative.

Without transparency, sharing and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prepare for or prevent future epidemics and pandemics," the WHO stated.

The UN health agency recalled that on December 31, 2019, its office in China learned of cases of viral pneumonia in Wuhan.

"In the weeks, months and years that followed, COVID-19 changed our lives and our world," the WHO said.

Five years ago on 31 December 2019, WHO’s Country Office in #China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, China.

In the weeks, months, and years that unfolded after that, #COVID19 came to… pic.twitter.com/th25ou6vJn

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 30, 2024

Earlier this month, the organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, when asked whether the world is better prepared for a possible next pandemic, answered - yes and no.

- If the next pandemic were to occur today, the world would still face the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that allowed COVID-19 to take hold and spread five years ago - Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.

But the world has also learned many painful lessons from the pandemic and taken important steps to strengthen defenses against future epidemics and pandemics.

In December 2021, international negotiations began to reach an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

One hundred and ninety-four WHO member states, which are negotiating the agreement, have agreed on most of what it should contain, but have stalled on important practical aspects.

The current deadline for concluding the negotiations is set for May 2025.