Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
WHO Chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

There is a huge gap between funds needed to fight the coronavirus and funds committed worldwide, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

But he said he saw "green shoots of hope".

"It is never too late to turn the pandemic around," Tedros told a news briefing. The message is to "suppress, suppress, suppress".

More than 19.92 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 729,883​ have died. 

WHO warns 'vaccine nationalism' not good for world

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against vaccine nationalism, cautioning rich nations that if they keep treatments to themselves they cannot expect to remain safe if poor countries remain exposed.

According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, it would be in the interest of wealthier nations to help every country protect itself against the disease. Ghebreyesus said that vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help the world, the Guardian reported.

FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist displays a box of Dexamethasone at the Erasme Hospital amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium, June 16, 2020. REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A pharmacist displays a box of Dexamethasone at the Erasme Hospital amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium, June 16, 2020. REUTERS

"For the world to recover faster, it has to recover together, because it's a globalised world: the economies are intertwined. Part of the world or a few countries cannot be a safe haven and recover," Ghebreyesus told the Aspen Security Forum in the US, via video-link from the WHO's headquarters in Geneva.

He also said that Covid-19 could be less when those countries who have the funding committed to this

According to the report, several countries are racing to find a vaccine for coronavirus, which has killed more than 7,00,000 people globally. The WHO chief also said that the Covid-19 pandemic can not be defeated in a divided world and hoped that the US will "reconsider its position" on its decision to withdraw from the world body.