The EU-draft resolution which was co-sponsored by EU member states and Australia finally saw the support of close to 140 member states, including China, before it was adopted on Tuesday at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA).
The resolution seeks to establish the origins of the novel coronavirus as well as initiate an “impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” on the response of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the coronavirus crisis.
The agenda of the WHA’s first-ever virtual session was to discuss and adopt the resolution in finding a way to battle the global health pandemic that has claimed over 3,00,000 lives and infected 4.8 million people worldwide.
RESOLUTION
The resolution, initially proposed by some 60 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Russia South Africa, the European Union and its member states, Turkey and the UK, was finally backed by more than 120 members, people familiar with the development said.
In the concluding session, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “I will initiate an evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment. We welcome any initiative to strengthen global health security and to strengthen WHO. The World Health Organisation remains fully committed to transparency, accountability & continuous improvement.”
Interestingly, while China endorsed the resolution, the United States did not object to the adoption but gave a written explanation of its position regarding the Covid-19 response resolution.
“China has co-sponsored the draft resolution backed by 120 countries. We hope the draft resolution can be adopted by consensus at the 73rd WHA and will be implemented accurately and comprehensively,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during the daily briefing on Tuesday.
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