WHO calls for experts to help with investigation into Covid-19 origins
- The UN health agency is forming a new advisory group in part to address its fraught attempts to find out how the pandemic began
- WHO said the group will independently analyse the work done to date to pinpoint the origins of Covid-19 and advise on necessary next steps
In a statement on Friday, the UN health agency said the new scientific group would provide the WHO with an independent analysis of the work done to date to pinpoint the origins of Covid-19 and to advise the agency on necessary next steps.
The experts will also provide guidance on critical issues regarding the potential emergence of other viruses capable of triggering outbreaks, such as Mers and Ebola.
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The WHO said it’s seeking up to 25 officials with relevant expertise to apply for membership in its new scientific advisory group by September 10.
In March, a WHO-led team of international experts issued a preliminary report that deemed it “extremely unlikely ” that the origins of Covid-19 were linked to a laboratory.
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Critics have slammed the WHO’s initial assessment, saying it was a flawed effort and noting that all of the team members sent to China needed Chinese government approval, as did the WHO report.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged last month it was “premature ” to rule out the lab leak theory, describing lab accidents as “common”.
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Numerous health experts and scientists have called for an independent investigation to be conducted beyond the WHO, pointing out that the agency has no authority to compel countries, including China, to cooperate.
According to the terms of reference released on Friday, the WHO’s new expert group will also be bound by certain confidentiality rules, similar to those in place for many of the agency’s other expert groups.
The guidelines state that members shall not speak on behalf of the WHO or the group to any third party, that internal deliberations should be treated as “strictly confidential” and that they should not quote from or use any documents outside the group’s remit.
The WHO will retain full control over any reports, including whether they will be published.
