China warns against ‘manipulation’ in WHO COVID-19 origin investigation
A day after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of an expert group to study the origins of COVID-19, China on Thursday warned against “political manipulation” of fresh investigations by the global health body.
The statement comes after the WHO on Wednesday launched an expert group that will study the origin of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the news “following a public call to experts” during his press briefing from Geneva.
“China will continue to support and participate in global scientific origin-tracing and strongly oppose any form of political manipulation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a news conference on Thursday.
“We hope that all relevant parties, including the WHO Secretariat and SAGO, will adopt an objective, scientific and responsible attitude, comply with the requirements and relevant mandates of the WHA Resolution, take the first phase of the joint study as a basis, adhere to a global perspective, perform their duties in an objective and impartial manner, and truly make a positive contribution to global origin-tracing and anti-epidemic cooperation,” he said.
The proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origin of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) were selected for their expertise in areas such as epidemiology, animal health, clinical medicine, virology and genomics.
26 experts were selected from over 700 applications and selected for their world-class expertise and experience across multiple disciplines, as well as their geographic and gender diversity.
“SAGO will advise WHO on the development of a global framework to define and guide studies into the origin of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with pandemic and pandemic potential, including SARS-CoV-2,” he said.
“The emergence of new viruses with the potential to spread epidemics and pandemics is a fact of nature, and while SARS-CoV-2 is the latest virus of its kind, it will not be the last.”
Responding to a question, Dr Maria van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead on COVID-19, had said that SAGO would recommend further studies in China and potentially elsewhere to understand the origin of the new coronavirus, the United Nations said. The news told.
While SAGO will advise the WHO, any future missions will be organized by a UN agency and country. “I want to make it clear that SAGO is not the next mission team. There has been some misrepresentation going forward,” she said.
A team of WHO-led scientists, who traveled to China to investigate the origins of the virus in early 2021, struggled to get a clear picture of what research China was already doing during its visit. encountered obstacles, and had little power to conduct thorough and impartial operations. Research.
(Witjh ANI Inputs)
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