Scientists at the World Health Organization believe that it was possible to prevent the coronavirus pandemic. If the reaction of the world leaders had been more rapid, the world would have been able to save millions of lives. 

According to The Guardian with reference to the WHO research conducted by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former president of Liberia, the coronavirus pandemic was a preventable disaster.

The independent group of researchers has discussed the world leaders’ inaction on the coronavirus epidemic. Experts called on the state leaders not to repeat the previous mistakes and not to allow such catastrophes to happen. The WHO report unveiled the inconsistent preparations for the pandemic and insufficient funding for public assistance programs.

One of the research managers describes February of 2020 as “a month of lost opportunity to avert a pandemic, as so many countries chose to wait and see”.

“For some, it wasn’t until hospital ICU beds began to fill that more action was taken,” Helen Clark said. “And by then it was too late to avert the pandemic impact.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf supposes that one of the reasons for such a catastrophe was an inadequate attitude to the situation. She thinks that it is of vital importance to learn from the past. “The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented. An outbreak of a new pathogen, Sars CoV-2 became a catastrophic pandemic that has now killed more than 3.25 million people,” the expert said.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten lives of people. That is why the independent group of researchers emphasizes  the necessity of radical changes. The panel also calls for bringing heads of state together to oversee pandemic preparations, ensuring the finance and tools the world needs are in place. Specialists castigate the WHO’s actions, saying that “the World Health Organization was underpowered” when every day and every life counted.

“The report was commissioned by the WHO director general at the instigation of member states, who called at the World Health Assembly in May last year for an impartial review of what happened and what could be learned from the pandemic,” The Guardian reads.