COVID-19 pandemic "far from over": WHO chief

GENEVA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated here on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic "is far from over."

"As I said yesterday, the pandemic is far from over. And even as we continue to fight it, we face the task of restoring essential health services, with 90 percent of member states reporting disruption to one or more essential health services," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Addressing the 75th World Health Assembly, Ghebreyesus said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated why the world needed the WHO.

"We need a stronger and sustainably financed WHO, at the center of the global health security architecture," he said at the annual assembly.

"In ways small and large, seen and unseen, I am proud to say that this organization is making a difference," he said.

The WHO was still "far behind" to see 1 billion more people benefitting from universal health coverage by next year.

Before the pandemic, the WHO estimated that only 270 million more people would be covered by 2023 -- a shortfall of 730 million people against the target of 1 billion.

"Disruptions to health services during the pandemic have sent us backwards, and we estimate the shortfall could reach 840 million," he said.

Ghebreyesus also said governments should put people's health at the center of their plans.

"We are calling on every government to put the health of its people at the center of its plans for development and growth," he said.