United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has called on all countries to scale up efforts to overcome epidemics.

According to him, the countries should be equipped and ready to take on coming health challenges.

Guterres raised the alarm, in a statement, yesterday, in Maiduguri, Borno State, to mark the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. The event is marked on December 27.

“The stepping up efforts was to ensure the world is equipped and ready to take on the health challenges to come.

“Three years ago, the virus that caused COVID-19 was first detected,” he said, lamenting that the costs had been catastrophic.

The UN scribe added that since the pandemic struck, millions of lives had been lost, and hundreds of millions diseased.

“Economies of various countries have been shattered, while the health systems were stretched, with trillions of dollars lost,” Guterres noted.

He warned that the development has thrown progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) off track, causing developing countries to fend for themselves.

“They were shamefully denied the vaccines, tests or treatments they needed to protect their people,” the UN boss lamented. “COVID-19 will not be the last epidemic or pandemic humanity faces.

“As a global community, we must heed the harsh lessons of COVID-19 and heavily invest in the pandemic preparedness, prevention and responses.”