The World Health Organization has implored China to share data and access to help understand the origins of Covid-19, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet.
“We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of Covid-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative,” the WHO said in a statement on Monday.
Covid-19 killed more than seven million people, shredded economies and crippled health systems.
“Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics,” the WHO said.
Beijing issued a stern response to the comments on Tuesday, saying it had shared information on Covid “without holding anything back.”
“Five years ago… China immediately shared epidemic information and viral gene sequence with the WHO and the international community. Without holding anything back, we shared our prevention, control and treatment experience, making a huge contribution to the international community’s pandemic-fighting work,” the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, said.
The WHO recounted how on 31 December 2019, its country office in China picked up a media statement from health authorities in Wuhan concerning cases of “viral pneumonia” in the city.
“In the weeks, months and years that unfolded after that, Covid-19 came to shape our lives and our world,” the UN health agency said.
“As we mark this milestone, let’s take a moment to honour the lives changed and lost, recognise those who are suffering from Covid-19 and Long Covid, express gratitude to the health workers who sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learning from Covid-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”
Earlier this month, the WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the issue of whether the world was better prepared for the next pandemic than it was for Covid-19.
“The answer is yes, and no,” he told a press conference.
“If the next pandemic arrived today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave Covid-19 a foothold five years ago.
“But the world has also learned many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us, and has taken significant steps to strengthen its defences against future epidemics and pandemics.”
In December 2021, spooked by the devastation caused by Covid, countries decided to start drafting an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The WHO’s 194 member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on most of what it should include, but are stuck on the practicalities.
A key fault-line lies between western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors and poorer countries wary of being sidelined when the next pandemic strikes.
While the outstanding issues are few, they include the heart of the agreement: the obligation to quickly share emerging pathogens, and then the pandemic-fighting benefits derived from them such as vaccines. The deadline for the negotiations is May 2025.
