Success in fighting COVID-19 depends on equal protection of everyone: WHO chief

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Li Ye/Xinhua)

The WHO chief said it will be unacceptable that some people in the world are protected while others remain exposed to the virus.

GENEVA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the ultimate measure of success in fighting COVID-19 will not be how fast the tools are developed but how equally they can be distributed.

Speaking at the opening of the European Union (EU) COVID-19 online pledging conference Monday afternoon, the WHO chief said it will be unacceptable that some people in the world are protected while others remain exposed to the virus.

"This is an opportunity not only to defeat a common enemy, but to forge a common future, a future in which all people enjoy the right to the highest attainable standard of health," he noted.

Passengers from Europe fill in personal information at an Open Walk-Through checkpoint in Incheon International Airport, South Korea, March 27, 2020.(Photo by Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua)

Ten days ago, the WHO and the European Commission co-hosted the launch of a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to new COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, and Monday's pledging event is a follow-up to this effort.

Noting that the world is facing an unprecedented public health crisis, Tedros told the conference that "we are better positioned than any humans in history to confront it."

The EU and its partners hosted an international pledging conference Monday afternoon, aiming to raise 7.5 billion euros in initial funding to kick-start global cooperation on coronavirus. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars)  

Pharmacist Vivien works at a pharmacy in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Shiraaz Mohamed/Xinhua)■