On Europe 1, Didier Houssin, who chairs the World Health Organization's coronavirus emergency committee, calls on states to better anticipate the epidemic risk and to agree to give more powers to the WHO.
INTERVIEW
Take inspiration from past crises so as not to repeat mistakes in the future.
In his new book,
The
health hurricane, how to get out of the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for the future
, Didier Houssin, who chairs the coronavirus emergency committee of the World Health Organization, pleads for prevention against forgetting epidemic crises.
Invited Tuesday from Europe 1, he calls for giving more powers to the WHO and believes that States should be better prepared for the risk of epidemics.
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After this crisis which affected the whole world for more than a year, "there is a greater chance of being heard and that in the future, we are better prepared for this type of risk", believes today the former Director General of Health.
A lab leak?
"A very unlikely hypothesis"
But to draw all the lessons from this crisis, it would still be necessary to know with certainty the origin of this pandemic. However, even if the hypothesis of transmission by an animal is still favored, some continue to raise the idea of a laboratory incident. "In the past, there have been a few laboratory accidents which have caused epidemics," said Didier Houssin, citing in particular smallpox in England. But, he adds immediately, "today, the hypothesis that the virus came out of a laboratory in China is still very, very unlikely."
To be able to completely rule out this hypothesis, "it would be necessary to carry out very precise inspections, of the police type. But it is undoubtedly quite difficult to implement", continues Didier Houssin.
Especially since China has been accused of having hampered the mission of the WHO, which complained of a lack of access to the country's data.
A WHO lacking in powers
On Europe 1, Didier Houssin regrets the too restricted perimeter of the powers of the world organization.
WHO, he said, "can only do what member states want to give it."
However, today, "they are very jealous of their sovereignty. They were kind enough to give it a certain power to fight against the international spread of epidemics, but that does not go very far ... Basically, it did not. no power of inspection and sanction. "
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But could WHO see its role evolve?
"We will see if the World Health Assembly leads to a revision of the health treaty, the international health regulations, and allows the WHO to be given more power, but I am not sure," replied the specialist.
"We have the capacity to prepare"
For Didier Houssin, it is also crucial that the countries, at their level, strengthen their preparation for the risk of epidemics.
Epidemics are part of "the great recurring risks such as famines, wars, for which it is absolutely necessary to prepare", he warns.
"Especially since today, we have the ability to prepare. We have technical and scientific resources, and therefore we must put that at the top of the list."