Explainer | ‘It may be our last chance’: new Sago science group is WHO’s push to find the origins of Covid-19
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Now, the WHO is attempting to tamp down any rhetoric with the establishment of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens. Known as Sago, the permanent body will guide future studies on the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19 and other outbreaks of “pandemic potential”, and create a framework for how to investigate the origins of pathogens in future outbreaks.
“This has never been an easy process in many countries,” said WHO health emergencies programme executive director Michael Ryan at a briefing on Wednesday.
“We’ve had difficulties in the past in a number of countries … because there were real issues, there are sensitivities, there are economic issues, there are national pride issues, there are sovereignty issues, and you can’t ignore that they exist – if you ignore that they exist you will crash and burn on those issues,” Ryan said.
“This is our best chance – and it may be our last chance – to understand the origins of this virus in a collegiate, collective and mutually responsible way,” he said.