Like HIV, COVID-19 may never be eradicated, says WHO

The World Health Organisation, (WHO), has stated that COVID-19 – the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus – may never go away just like HIV.

Executive Director of the WHO health emergencies program, Mike Ryan, pointed out on Wednesday that the novel disease may further stretches the lists of viruses that lead to the death of people annually.

He said: “This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV hasn’t gone away.

“We’ve come to terms with the virus and we have found the therapies and we have found the prevention methods, and people don’t feel as scared as they did before. There are no promises in this and there are no dates”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected over 4.4 million people globally, and has killed nearly 300,000 people as of May 13, 2020.

Speaking on ongoing global search for vaccine to the virus, Ryan said with vaccine “we may have a shot at eliminating this virus but that vaccine will have to be available, it will have to be highly effective, it will have to be made available to everyone and we’ll have to use it.

“I’m not comparing the two diseases but I think it is important that we’re realistic. I don’t think anyone can predict when or if this disease will disappear. This disease may settle into a long-term problem or it may not be.”