WHO Urges China to Share More COVID-19 Data

China has defended its COVID-19 transparency after the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for more data and access to understand the origins of the pandemic. The disease first emerged in Wuhan in December 2020 and has since caused millions of deaths globally.

Responding to WHO’s statement on Monday, which called it a “moral and scientific imperative” for China to share more information, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China had made the “largest contribution to global origin tracing research.” She added, “Without holding anything back, we shared our prevention, control and treatment experience.”

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Over the years, the WHO has criticised China for lacking transparency. The joint investigation in early 2021, conducted by WHO specialists and Chinese colleagues, favoured the hypothesis that the virus jumped from a bat to a human via an intermediary animal. However, WHO officials have not been able to return to China and continue asking for more data. Mao stated that “more and more clues” suggested COVID-19’s origins had a global scope and that China was “willing to continue working with various parties” to advance scientific origin tracing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world remains vulnerable to new pandemics. Despite lessons learned from COVID-19, countries face challenges in negotiating a treaty on pandemic prevention and response. Key issues include obligations to share pathogens and equitable access to vaccines. The treaty’s deadline is May 2025, as 194 members aim to strengthen global defences against future pandemics.