WHO Chief Says Achievements, ‘Avoidable Suffering’ Marked 2023

The past year saw significant milestones and challenges in global public health but also immense and avoidable suffering, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Reflecting on 2023, which also marked the UN agency’s 75th anniversary, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted key achievements and set out objectives for the coming year. “In May, I declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. This marked a turning point for the world following three years of crisis, pain, and loss for people everywhere. I am glad to see that life has returned to normal,” he said in a video message. New vaccines Dr. Tedros also pointed to other achievements, such as the end of the mpox outbreak as a global health emergency and the approval of new vaccines for dengue, meningitis and malaria which threaten millions worldwide, mainly the most vulnerable. Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Belize achieved malaria-free status, and progress was made in eliminating some tropical diseases in various countries, including sleeping sickness in Ghana; trachoma in Benin, Mali, and Iraq, and lymphatic filariasis in Bangladesh and Lao. “The path to eradicating another vaccine-preventable disease – polio – has reached its last...