WHO Director-General Encourages Global Collaboration to ‘Flatten the Curve’
As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continues to circle the globe, nations look to a strong source that can help coordinate information and provide insight for all people. Under the leadership of the director-general, the World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019) (WHO) has been that trustworthy entity. Tracking, reporting, and coordinating COVID-19’s many aspects, WHO is a hub that allows public health officials worldwide to receive information in real time.
“To slow the spread of COVID-19, many countries have introduced unprecedented measures, at significant social and economic cost—closing schools and businesses, cancelling sporting events, and asking people to stay home and stay safe," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, said in a March 25, 2020, media briefing (https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---25-march-2020).
Recommendation
WHO established crucial factors that help countries coordinate and move forward. The organization urged world leaders to implement programs with six key recommended actions:
-
Expand, train, and deploy healthcare and public health workers.
-
Implement a system to find every suspected case at community level.
-
Ramp up the production, capacity, and availability of testing.
-
Identify, adapt, and equip facilities to treat and isolate patients.
-
Develop a clear plan and process to quarantine citizens.
-
Refocus the whole of government to suppress and control COVID-19 transmission.
Taking an aggressive approach will help stop the spread and flatten the pandemic’s curve. Outlining the vulnerable countries and those populations most at risk, the director-general called on every country to employ plans to curtail future outbreaks.
"The COVID-19 pandemic (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019) has highlighted the need for compelling and creative communications about public health,” Ghebreyesus (https://www.who.int/antimicrobial-resistance/interagency-coordination-group/dg_who_bio/en/) said.