Warning about an unknown threat, the so-called disease Xdid o World Health Organisation during the World Economic Forum held in Davos.

Disease X is a hypothetical disease and represents an unknown threat that could be the source of the next pandemic. According to WHO, disease X could be caused by a pathogen currently not known to cause disease, scientists say could be 20 times more deadly than COVID-19.

At a meeting held as part of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the WHO asked world leaders to consider the possibility of such a scenario. The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus called on countries to sign the pandemic treaty. , so that the world can prepare for “disease X”. Ghebreyesus, speaking to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, said he hoped that the countries will reach an agreement by May to deal with this “common enemy”, while adding that COVID-19 was the first disease X, but it is important to prepare for another pandemic.

“There are things that are unknown that can happen, so we have to be prepared for that, for the diseases that we don’t know about,” he said.

“We lost a lot of people [κατά τη διάρκεια του COVID] because we couldn’t manage them,” he said.

“They could have been saved, but there was no room. There wasn’t enough oxygen. So how do you have a system that can scale when the need arises?’

Ghebreyesus said independent groups and experts are working on ways to collectively respond and that the deadline for signing the treaty is in May.

He stressed that some of the preparedness exercises could include: an early warning system, organizing supplies and promoting research and development for drug testing. Primary care should also be considered, given that rich countries have not fared well during COVID, as they struggled with contact tracing.