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“Although we are in a much stronger position in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the virus is here to stay and countries must manage it alongside other infectious diseases”. She repeats it againWorld Health Organization (WHO), which today released its fourth strategic plan for Covid, a guide for the next two years. The Comprehensive Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP), updated to 2023-2025, points the way to managing the virus in the transition from an emergency phase to a phase in which a sustained long-term response will have to be activated instead, explains the the UN health agency.
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IThe document is released on the eve of an important summit: tomorrow, Thursday 4 May, the Emergency Committee (Ihr Emergency Committee) on Covid is meeting for the 15th time. This body will have to assess whether there are the conditions to close the public health emergency of international interest (Pheic) declared on January 30, 2020, and issue an opinion for the WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Strategic Plan 2023-2025
The 2023-2025 strategic plan, explains WHO, “it will be useful in guiding countries in managing Covid, whether or not the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern“. “As the Covid-19 pandemic enters its fourth year – underlines the Dg Tedros in the introduction to the Strategic Plan – we have every reason to hope. At time of writing Under this plan, the number of deaths reported weekly is at its lowest since the start of the pandemic, and in most countries, life has returned to ‘normal’. However, millions of people continue to be infected or re-infected with Sars-CoV-2, thousands still die every week and many questions remain open about the potential emergence of new variants that could cause new waves.
“In this time of hope and uncertainty – continues the DG – WHO has updated its Plan for the period 2023-2025. The previous one, published in 2022, outlined two objectives: to reduce the circulation of Sars-CoV-2 and to diagnose and treat COVID to reduce long-term mortality, morbidity and sequelae. Now a third is added: supporting countries during the transition from an emergency to a long-term response. This is a crucial step. We do not propose that countries abandon the pillars that served as the foundation for the pandemic response.”. What is being proposed is a further evolution, another step forward.
“In the wake of so much loss and upheaval, we must now restore and strengthen health systems – which have been devastated – while sustaining the gains made during the pandemic,” highlights the head of WHO. Among the various points, the new plan places “strong emphasis on addressing the post-COVID condition (also called Long COVID), which appears to arise after 6% of symptomatic COVID cases”says DG Tedros. “The harsh lessons of COVID spur a strong commitment to pandemic preparedness. The response to COVID has been costly, but the cost will be greater if we fail to build on those investments an ongoing commitment to science and public health.”
