Too many countries have neglected public health services, the WHO says, as it warns that the world must prepare for the next pandemic

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference in Geneva.

Reuters

• Too many countries have neglected public health services, and should invest in them to protect against future pandemics, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
• "Public health is the foundation of social, economic and political stability," Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Monday.
• Nearly 27 million COVID-19 cases and 900,000 deaths had been reported worldwide, according to statistics from the WHO.
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The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Monday that too many countries have neglected their basic health services in the past, as he urged governments across the world to invest in public health to protect against future pandemics.

Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, warned on Monday that "this will not be the last pandemic," and that countries must pump money into their health services to prevent, detect, and respond to diseases.

"Public health is the foundation of social, economic and political stability," he said at the press conference. "Too many have neglected their basic public health systems which are the foundations for responding to infectious diseases and outbreaks."

Latest statistics from the WHO released Monday show nearly 27 million COVID-19 cases and 900,000 deaths have been reported worldwide. More than 18.1 million people have recovered from the virus, according to the John Hopkins University.

Southeast Asia reported 600,000 new coronavirus cases in the past week, becoming the region with the highest number of total cases, according to the WHO. India's health ministry reported 90,802 cases on Monday, taking its total to 4.2 million. It now has the second-highest number of cases in the world, behind the US and ahead of Brazil.

Cases in the Americas increased by 1% and deaths fell 4% over the past week, the WHO reported, but it added that the region still accounted for almost half of all new cases.

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