WHO's Dr Tedros hails Trinidad and Tobago's covid19 response

WORLD Health Organization (WHO) head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday hailed TT's response to the covid19 pandemic, but said NCDs had made people more vulnerable to the virus and now posed a separate health threat in TT.

He was addressing a briefing held by the Prime Minister at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's.

Tedros (known by his first name because his surname is considered hard to pronounce)  used the occasion to firmly scotch rumours that a new accord would cede control of countries to the WHO.

He thanked TT for backing his return as WHO head.

"I would also like thank Prime Minister Rowley for his leadership during the covid19 pandemic, domestically, regionally and globally.

"The tough decisions he took helped prevent infections and saved lives."

He hailed Dr Rowley's strong advocacy for vaccine equity while recalling WHO's help to Caricom access medical supplies and training.

While having declared an end covid19 as a global health emergency last month, he warned the virus was still around so people must stay vigilant.

Saying this covid19 generation must learn lessons from the pandemic to stay safe, he advocated the WHO's new Accord on Pandemic Preparedness and Response. "An accord is a pact between nations to work together for a shared response to share threats."

He denied the accord ceded countries' sovereignty to the WHO to impose lockdowns.

"Let me say clearly that this is simply untrue. It's fake news.

"The WHO will not gain any power to override domestic policy decisions nor would we want to."

Countries will enact the accord in line with their own laws, Dr Tedros said.

He encouraged all small island developing States (SIDS) to engage in accord negotiations to represent their interests.

Tedros warned about NCDs.

"Like small island developing States, TT was particularly at risk of covid19 because of its relatively high rates of non-communicables diseases (NCDs).

"NCDs like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are responsible for more than 70 per cent of premature deaths globally."

He lamented that SIDS faced woes such as climate change, economic problems and a substantial brain-drain of health workers.

Tedros urged averting "vaccine apartheid" by using the accord and building production capacity in the global south.

Rowley interjected, "The conduct of some high-income countries to over-supply themselves with the vaccine at the most dangerous stage in the pandemic has led to wastage while others could not get one, for many dollars."

Pledging TT to the defence of the human condition, the PM said while TT has not yet signed on to the accord, the pact was the direction for TT.

Tedros hoped for an agreed accord document by May 2024.

He again warned against NCDs as "major killers" globally. He named risk factors as lack of physical activity, unhealthy food, tobacco and excessive alcohol.

Newsday asked what the WHO had concluded about the cause of the pandemic, such as the consumption of farmed or wild animals, or a lab accident.

Tedros replied that there had been no conclusive cause, but all hypotheses remained on the table.

"Some say it is a natural occurrence that came from some sort of animal and then into another intermediate (host) and then into humans.

"Others say it is a lab accident and other hypotheses."

He said the WHO has worked on this for some time including sending a team to China. "We have asked China to provide more information.

"But as you may know - I've said it many times - we are not getting full access to the information they have and we are still pushing."

He urged access to these details because certain "signs" could prevent any recurrence while "morals" required an account of many pandemic deaths.

"Even a single family when they lose their loved ones and they don't know how or why, they don't rest until they know the reason.

"Because of signs and a moral imperative we have to really find out what happened and urge China to co-operate."

Asked what TT had done well in fighting covid19, he said TT had a good response against a virus that had been "a surprise" and been "tricky."