Who director general's speech: we need unity, not stigma

Recently, at a meeting held in Munich, Dr tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, talked about some views on the new coronavirus epidemic, and once again called for the fact, rationality and unity at this very moment In today's article, the content team of Wuxi apptec will bring you Chinese translation of corresponding information Although we announced that (covid-19 epidemic) is a public health emergency of international concern, China accounts for 99% of the cases, so to a large extent, it is still an emergency in China Outside China, there are 505 cases In China, the number of cases is more than 66000 (this speech was released on February 15) Let me be clear: it's not clear where the epidemic will go But I can share with you what excites us and what worries us We are heartened that China's efforts to control the outbreak at its source seem to have bought the world time Despite the huge cost to China, these measures have slowed down the spread of the epidemic outside China Outside of China, we haven't seen widespread mass communication, and we are excited about it The global research community has joined forces to find the most urgent needs in the fields of diagnosis, treatment and vaccine development, and accelerate the corresponding processes We are excited about it We are also heartened by the fact that we have sent diagnostic kits, masks, gloves, protective clothing, and other personal protective equipment to some of the most urgently needed countries An international team of experts has arrived in China to work closely with Chinese experts to understand how the outbreak occurred and provide information for the next global response It also cheers us up But we have some concerns We are concerned about the rising number of cases in China We are concerned that yesterday's report in China (the day before the speech) mentioned that some medical staff were infected with the virus or died as a result We are concerned that the international community is not fast enough to fund a global response We are concerned that the market for personal protective equipment is seriously disrupted, putting front-line medical personnel at risk We are also concerned that false information and misleading content will hinder our response to the epidemic What worries us most is that the virus may spread to countries with weaker health systems The Ebola outbreak and the outbreak of covid-19 once again stressed the importance of all countries being prepared and not panicking Two years ago, the World Health Organization and the world bank established the global preparedness monitoring board It is an independent body that assesses the adequacy of the world's preparedness for infectious diseases Last year, the Commission released its first assessment, concluding that the world is still not ready For a long time, the world was in a cycle of panic and neglect At the time of an outbreak, we invest a lot of money; at the end of the outbreak, we quickly put the outbreak behind us, not to prevent the next outbreak The world has spent billions of dollars in response to terrorist attacks, but relatively little preparation has been made for virus attacks Although these viruses will be more deadly, they will do more harm to economy, politics and even society Frankly, it's hard to understand, and it's a very dangerous short-sighted behavior Today, I have three requests for international groups First of all, we should make good use of this time window to strengthen our preparation China has won time for the world We don't know how long it will last All countries should be ready for the arrival of cases, and should be compassionate, diligent in treating patients, preventing follow-up transmission, and protecting medical personnel The World Health Organization is working with producers and distributors of personal protective equipment to ensure a reliable supply Volunteers need these tools to do their work safely and effectively We are not only fighting against the virus epidemic, we are also fighting against the information epidemic False news is easier to spread, faster and equally harmful than viruses That's why we're working with search engines and social media companies like Facebook, Google, pinterest, Tencent, twitter, tiktok and YouTube to deal with the spread of false information and misleading content We also call on all governments, companies, and news organizations to work with us to deliver the right warning messages, rather than fuel hysteria Secondly, I would like to say that this is not just the work of the health sector Control of the epidemic requires the efforts of the entire government But these approaches must be coordinated, organized, evidence-based, and give priority to public health In many countries, some initiatives are only made by some departments of the government, without proper communication with the health sector, or without considering the impact of these initiatives At this very moment, we need more science and evidence to guide our policies If we don't, we will go further and further on the dark road It will only bring about division and disharmony Third, we must be guided by unity, not stigma Let me repeat: we must be guided by unity, not stigma The biggest enemy we face is not the virus itself, but the stigma that makes us turn to others We must put an end to these stigmas, to these hatreds! [Applause] There are also many reports on my praise for China I will continue to praise those places that deserve praise I will continue to commend any country that pays a high price to fight the epidemic and protect its own country and even the people of the world It is easy to blame, easy to politicize, and difficult to work together to solve problems and find solutions We will learn a lot from this outbreak But this is not the time to condemn or politicize There is such a choice in front of us Do we choose to face this common dangerous enemy together, or do we choose to let fear, doubt and irrationality distract us and divide us? In a divided world, health is one of the few areas where different countries can unite for the same goal through international cooperation.