The European Office of the World Health Organization has announced the launch of a transition plan to deal with the new phase of the pandemic and to ensure a rapid response in the event of a resurgence of the virus. “Although COVID-19 is no longer defined as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (Pheic), it continues to significantly burden global health,” WHO Europe explains. “The virus is likely to stay with us for many years to come, if not forever.”
The plan aims to integrate the control of Covid-19 into the routine activities of health services, but at the same time to use the lessons learned from the last three years to improve responses to infectious diseases. “It is time to invest in and sustain the progress made with the pandemic response and apply the lessons of this pandemic and other health emergencies. This is the way to increase the resilience of our health systems against future shocks,” explained the regional director for WHO Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge.
In particular, the plan ranges from surveillance activities, to the training of operators, from informing citizens to put them in a position to make informed decisions on vaccinations, up to the development of response plans for new pandemics.
“The end of the global COVID-19 emergency is not an opportunity to pack up and move on,” warned Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO Europe. “It’s a call to action to use this time wisely, not to waste any progress or lessons from the past 3 years.”
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