Friendship organizations in China,Africa appeal to WHO over origin tracing of COVID-19

Fang Ying

O n Aug 26， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， and leaders of 22 peopleto-people friendship organizations from 19 African countries jointly signed a letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus， director-general of the World Health Organization， calling on the WHO to adhere to the spirit of science， professionalism and objectivity in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the WHO General Assembly to carry out global tracing of the COVID-19 origin， firmly oppose politicization and stigmatization and give priority to supporting pandemic prevention and control in Africa. The main points of the letter are as follows：

At present， the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world， having claimed more than 4.2 million precious lives and infected more than 200 million people. The emergence of the Delta strain and other mutations have exacerbated global panic. In developed countries such as the United States and Japan， the pandemic has worsened， with both daily deaths and infections reaching record highs， leading to lost confidence in the international community that the pandemic will be conquered anytime soon.

COVID-19 poses a serious challenge to public health systems and to the prevention and control capabilities of all countries， especially those in Africa and other developing countries. The international community must attach great importance to the situation， since the lives and health of people around the world are in grave danger and the normal order of life and production have been seriously disrupted.

The coronavirus is now a common enemy and the greatest threat to mankind. The successful prevention and control practices in China show that COVID-19 is preventable， controllable and treatable. The key lies in putting people and their lives first and in respecting science. The“political virus” can never defeat the natural virus. The fact that COVID-19 continues to rage around the world once again demonstrates that mankind is a single community with a shared future. Only with concerted endeavors and scientific responses can the international community win the battle and safeguard people’s lives and health.

It is sad to note that as the world’s only superpower， the United States has taken an irresponsible attitude and responded negatively to the outbreak and spread of the pandemic in its own country. More than 36 million people were infected in the US and more than 620，000 have died of COVID-19.

In the face of the global pandemic， the US government has failed to contain the pandemic within its own borders and prevent the virus from spreading to other countries， let alone supporting Africa and other countries in the fight against the virus. Instead， it is busy politicizing the pandemic， stigmatizing the virus， using origin-tracing as a tool， scapegoating others and shirking responsibility， which has seriously undermined normal international anti-pandemic cooperation.

What is totally unacceptable is that the US administration has maintained its misguided approach of political manipulation and scapegoating and has denied the joint report released by WHO experts after a field visit to Wuhan， China. What’s more， it has repeatedly hyped up the “lab leak” theory and assigned the Central Intelligence Agency to fabricate theories with no scientific basis. Yet it will not allow any investigation into the Fort Detrick laboratory in its own country.

It is worrying that African countries are marginalized in the global fight against the pandemic， as the pandemic has intensified around the continent. The continuous spread of the pandemic has posed a serious threat to the lives and health of the African people due to a weak economic foundation， inadequate prevention and control capacity and vulnerable public health systems， and has had a serious impact on Africa’s economic and social development， greatly undermining the momentum of African countries’ rapid rise in recent years. Only when developed countries effectively contain the pandemic at an early date and extend assistance to Africa and other regions can people of the world see any hope of defeating COVID-19.

All parties greatly appreciate China’s initiative to build a community of common health for mankind and its being the first to fulfill the promise of designating the COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good. Having taken firm and effective measures to contain the virus domestically， China has actively promoted international cooperation on pandemic prevention and control， and has set an example for the world.

The signees of the letter expressed heartfelt thanks to China for providing African countries with a steady stream of anti-pandemic supplies and medical aid， as well as sharing its experience in fighting the pandemic. China has supplied vaccines to more than 30 African countries and more than 700 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine around the world.

All parties to the letter strongly appeal to the international community， especially developed countries such as the US， Japan and others in Europe， to fulfill the due international obligation， stop vaccine racism， step up efforts to help Africa by providing more vaccines， medical supplies and testing reagents to bridge the disease control gap and enable Africa to build a line of defense against the coronavirus. They call on the international community to unite and help one another， to firmly safeguard world equity and justice and to promote common development and prosperity.