Thread by @WHO

LIVE: Media briefing on #COVID19 and other global health issues with @DrTedros twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

"Today marks the end of the #Ebola outbreak in 🇺🇬, 4 months after the first cases were reported. I congratulate the govt, the people of 🇺🇬 & 👩‍⚕️, some of whom lost their lives, for their leadership & dedication in bringing the outbreak to an end"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "We thank donors and partners for swiftly mobilizing resources, and vaccine developers for making candidate vaccines available in record time"-@DrTedros #Ebola #Uganda

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1613184332985671680?s=20&t=w_SaVS_XnEEl67hgMCa85g

@DrTedros "Even in the absence of approved vaccines or therapeutics for this type of #Ebola, #Uganda was able to use proven public health tools to contain the outbreak"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "This outbreak has finished, but WHO’s commitment to #Uganda has not. We remain committed to strengthening Uganda’s health system as part of its journey towards universal health coverage"-@DrTedros #HealthForAll

@DrTedros "It’s now 3 years since the first sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was shared with the 🌍. That sequence enabled the development of the first tests, & ultimately, vaccines. Throughout the pandemic testing & sequencing helped us to track the spread and development of new variants"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "But since the peak of the Omicron wave, the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90%, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1613184978241609728?s=20&t=w_SaVS_XnEEl67hgMCa85g

@DrTedros "The world cannot close its eyes and hope this virus will go away. It won’t. Sequencing remains vital to detect and track the emergence and spread of new variants, such as XBB.1.5"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros "We urge all countries now experiencing intense [#COVID19] transmission to increase sequencing, and to share those sequences. Investment in testing at-risk people to ensure they receive adequate care and in tracking the virus remains vital"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "Since February last year, the number of deaths reported to WHO each week has dropped by almost 90%. But since mid-September, the number of weekly reported deaths has been stuck between 10,000-14,000 deaths per week"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros "Last week, almost 11,500 deaths were reported to WHO – about 40% from the Americas, 30% from Europe and 30% from the Western Pacific region. However, this number is almost certainly an under-estimate given the under-reporting of #COVID19-related deaths in #China"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "Most of those dying are at-risk groups, incl. older people. During the last 6 months of 2022, people aged 65 or over accounted for ~90% of all reported deaths. Once again the data we receive from countries is inadequate to give us a clear picture of who is dying & why"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros "Only 53 out of 194 countries provide data on deaths that are disaggregated by age and sex.

As we enter the fourth year of this pandemic, we ask all countries to provide this data. The more data we have, the clearer a picture we have"-@DrTedros #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1613186227775344641?s=20&t=w_SaVS_XnEEl67hgMCa85g

@DrTedros "We continue to call on all countries to focus on fully vaccinating the most at-risk groups, especially older people. And we continue to call on all people to take appropriate precautions when necessary to protect yourself and others"-@DrTedros #COVID19

@DrTedros "This week, the @UN Security Council extended the authorisation for cross-border humanitarian operations for an additional six months"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1612909963667447823?s=20&t=9ObctCbfsnC4WisQV_KILQ

@DrTedros @UN "For WHO and partners, this is welcome news, and critical for us to reach more than 4 million people in north-west #Syria with lifesaving health and humanitarian support"-@DrTedros

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1613187367011074049?s=20&t=w_SaVS_XnEEl67hgMCa85g

@DrTedros @UN "This decision comes at a time when the humanitarian situation is worsening in #Syria. Humanitarian needs have reached their highest levels since the conflict began. Syria is now facing a harsh winter and a cholera outbreak that has already affected tens of thousands"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "WHO will continue to work with partners to deliver aid, but the solution that the people of #Syria need more than any other is peace"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "#Syria is not the only country facing a devastating cholera outbreak. Since January of last year, 31 countries have reported outbreaks, 50% more than in the preceding years. The outbreaks themselves are both more widespread and deadly than normal"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "While we have had large #cholera outbreaks before, we have not seen such a large number of simultaneous outbreaks. The common denominator for many of these outbreaks is climate-related events, such as storms, floods and droughts"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "🇭🇹, 🇲🇼 & 🇸🇾 are among the worst affected countries. In October, the International Coordinating Group that manages the global #cholera 💉 stockpile suspended the standard two-dose vaccination regimen for cholera, using instead a single-dose approach to extend supply"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "Production is currently at maximum capacity, and despite this unprecedented decision, the stockpile remains very low. In the past few weeks, four more countries requested vaccines, which are extremely scarce"-@DrTedros #cholera

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1613188287518375937?s=20&t=w_SaVS_XnEEl67hgMCa85g

@DrTedros @UN "With increasing numbers of outbreaks that are larger geographically and in number, we call on countries that have experienced #cholera outbreaks before to increase preparedness for potential outbreaks"-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @UN "We thank EuBiologics, based in the 🇰🇷, for maximizing production, and for its efforts to develop a new vaccine with the potential for larger production. We continue to call on other manufacturers to do the same"-@DrTedros #cholera

@DrTedros @UN "We also call on partners to support the [#cholera] response to the ongoing outbreaks, especially to reduce the unacceptably high case fatality rate"-@DrTedros