The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, called on the parties to the conflict in Sudan to comply with international legal obligations, including the right to access health care and access to medical facilities. He expressed concern about the closure of many hospitals in Sudan due to attacks, lack of vital supplies and medical workers, lack of fuel for generators in hospitals, and power and water outages.
He told a press conference that Sudan’s fighting death toll has risen to 270, in addition to 2,600 injured, as restrictions on the movement of the population hamper ambulances and paramedics and put lives at risk.
On the other hand, Adhanom expressed concern about the Taliban’s decision to ban women from working with the United Nations, especially in the health sector, calling for a reconsideration of this decision, which harms the population, especially women and children, and prevents them from receiving the assistance they need.
He said that the number of people infected with tuberculosis in the world has reached 10.6 million and that this deadly disease still affects many countries and societies, causing 1.6 million deaths annually, calling for action to control and eliminate tuberculosis in over the next four years, and for civil society engagement in disease control, investment and work on new TB vaccines, indicating 16 new vaccine candidates.
He explained that the organization is holding a meeting this week to discuss the progress made since the establishment of the Vaccine Center in South Africa in 2021, as well as discussing intellectual property issues for mrn technologies, calling for the transfer of these technologies to middle and low-income countries for their applications.
Regarding the Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea, Adhanom urged neighboring countries to prepare to respond should the virus reach their lands, explaining that the number of infections has reached 16 confirmed cases, of which 11 have died and 23 suspected cases since the start of the epidemic. February 13.
