Don’t Delay Reforms to Prepare for Next Pandemic, Urges WHO Chief

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
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Don’t Delay Reforms to Prepare for Next Pandemic, Urges WHO Chief

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, May 21, 2023. (Reuters)

The head of the World Health Organization urged countries on Monday to carry out reforms needed to prepare for the next pandemic, hailing their "historic" decision to accept a major budget hike at the UN agency's annual assembly.

Speaking at the assembly weeks after ending the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to advance negotiations on preventing the next pandemic.

"We cannot kick this can down the road," the WHO director-general said in a major address to the agency's member states, warning that the next pandemic was bound to "come knocking".

"If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?" he said.

The 10-day annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, which coincides with the WHO's 75th anniversary, is set to address global health challenges including future pandemics, eradicating polio and supporting steps to ease Ukraine's health emergency triggered by Russia's invasion.

The WHO's 194 member states are now drafting a pandemic treaty which is up for adoption at next year's assembly.

"A commitment from this generation (to a pandemic accord) is important, because it is this generation that experienced how awful a small virus could be," said Tedros.

At the same meeting, countries approved a $6.83 billion budget for 2024-25 - a decision that tested national commitments to fixing a WHO funding model which was seen as too small and overly reliant on the vagaries of donors.

The budget includes a 20% increase in member states' mandatory fees under a preliminary agreement reached last year in exchange for a commitment to reforms including on budget, governance and finance policies.

US Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs Michele J. Sison said future increases would be "contingent upon continued reform progress". Central and South American countries also called for the WHO to address what they described as chronic underfunding of their region.



Drought Has Dried Major Amazon River Tributary to Lowest Level in over 122 Years

 A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
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Drought Has Dried Major Amazon River Tributary to Lowest Level in over 122 Years

 A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)

One of the Amazon River's main tributaries has dropped to its lowest level ever recorded, Brazil's geological service said Friday, reflecting a severe drought that has devastated the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the country.

The level of the Negro River at the port of Manaus was at 12.66 meters on Friday, as compared with a normal level of about 21 meters. It is the lowest since measurements started 122 years ago.

The previous record low level was recorded last year, but toward the end of October.

The Negro River's water level might drop even more in coming weeks based on forecasts for low rainfall in upstream regions, according to the geological service's predictions.

Andre Martinelli, the agency's hydrology manager in Manaus, was quoted as saying the river was expected to continue receding until the end of the month.

Water levels in Brazil's Amazon always rise and fall with its rainy and dry seasons, but the dry portion of this year has been much worse than usual.

All of the major rivers in the Amazon basin are at critical levels, including the Madeira River, the Amazon River's longest tributary.

The Negro River drains about 10% of the Amazon basin and is the world's sixth-largest by water volume. Manaus, the biggest city in the rainforest, is where the Negro joins the Amazon River.

For locals, the drought has made basic daily activities impossible. Gracita Barbosa, 28, works as a cashier on a floating shop on the Negro River.

She's out of work because boats that once stopped there can no longer navigate the river due to the low water levels.

Barbosa can no longer bathe in the river and now has to travel longer distances to collect drinking water.