Berlin : World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and German Chancellor Angela Merkel officiated at the opening in Berlin on Wednesday of a pandemic early warning hub.
The centre aims to prepare the world for future pandemics through the collection and analysis of large amounts of data, reports dpa international today.
“The hub will bring together partners worldwide to collaborate and create the tools and data needed for all countries to prepare, detect and respond to pandemic and epidemic risks,” the WHO said on its website.
The hub’s first director is to be the German-born Nigerian epidemiologist Chikwe Ihekweazu, who currently heads Nigeria’s health authority.
Following the devastation caused by the coronavirus outbreak, health experts believe that the outbreak of a new pandemic is only a matter of time. Warning signs have to be systematically monitored with a view to early and strong action, they say.
During the opening of the centre, Merkel stressed the importance of having an international exchange of information and said the coronavirus pandemic had shown just how much the WHO is needed.
It’s for that reason that the WHO should be reliably funded, she said, adding that the health organization can only be as good as the member states that are willing to support it.
The new centre is to make use of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse large quantities of data, focusing on animal health, unusual human diseases, changes in human behaviour, the effects of climate change and population shifts.
German institutes, including the disease control body, the Robert Koch Institute, and Berlin’s Charite Hospital, are to be closely involved in the project, as well as the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering.
The hub will initially be housed in the Charite but will later have its own building in Berlin’s World Health Organization (WHO). Germany is putting up 30 million euros (35 million dollars) to help fund it.
