>> syrian state media says israel has killed five soldiers near damascus. there were airstrikes inside government controlled areas of syria over the years. investigation is underway. in a ukrainian city bodies of hundreds have been found in sit. the bodies are to be exhumed for examination.

a health ministry says 24 people have been killed since the fire broke out wednesday. a cease-fire has reportedly violated just hours after a meeting between leaders. >> they engaged in a wide range of conflict at the borders. while this was happening, they attended the shanghai corporation summit. it paved the way for a meeting between these leaders. they met and agreed on a cease-fire. just hours after the cease-fire was announced, there are reports the cease-fire is already

violated and ongoing shellings are coming in. >> banks in lebanon announced they will close for three days next week because of security concerns. at least three armed raids have been carried out friday by desperate people demanding access to their own money. thousands of people are still queueing to see the queen lying in state at westminster hall. two in -- a massive fire has engulfed a 42 story skyscraper in china, which housed one of the largest telecommunication companies. the news continues on "al jazeera," after "inside story," up next. ♪

>> is the pandemic nearly over? the world health organization says the end is in sight. what lessons can we learn in case we face another one? this is "inside story." ♪ >> hello and welcome to the program. it has been nearly three years since covid-19 first emerged. the virus has killed 6.5 million people and infected many others around the globe. the world health organization says things are starting to improve. the number of deaths are the lowest since march 2020 when the pandemic was declared.

cases have been decreasing since july. the w.h.o. is warning against complacency. it released six policy documents to guide governments on distributing vaccines, testing, and managing misinformation. >> we have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. we are not there yet, but the end is in sight. if we do not take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more risks, more disruption, and more uncertainty. let's seize this opportunity. >> despite optimism, the lancet medical journal found massive global failures in response to the pandemic and established a covid-19 commission to look at science-based policies, global corporation and finance.

they say health authorities were not fast enough in their response to the outbreak. there were delays in acknowledging covid-19 was spreading by air and governments were often influenced by misinformation and protested against basic cautions. -- precautions. ♪ >> let's bring in our guest in geneva, dr. margaret harris, a spokeswoman for the world health organization. jeffrey lazarus of a research group for global health, in dublin. and sarah, interim african director for the campaign. i hope to begin in geneva first with margaret harris. the w.h.o. released six key policy documents. are they a blueprint on how to do things better? margaret: indeed, a distillation of what we have learned in the

last 32 months of this terrible pandemic and we have learned important lessons. also, a plea to governments to apply them. now is the time to double down, not relax. host: sarah, it must be disappointing for you that the w.h.o. has said the end is in sight and released these six policy documents, but the african continent had huge amounts of trouble getting vaccines, distributing them. there is no specific policy document for the african continent. that must be frustrating. sarah: one thing we had, awakening, not just the debilitating crisis it brought, but the twin economic crisis happening and unfolding as saidf

all populations should be vaccinated by the end of the year. the african continent is still at 22.6%. at this pace it will take us four to five years to reach 70%. what i would like to see in a global document is not just what we have learned, like the vaccine in equity we saw, africa's lack of vaccine sovereignty, low income countries getting higher prices at the peak of this. when i would like to see is, how do we learn from this and recognize it is not just a health crisis, but an economic crisis that is still ongoing. host: let's talk about the economics with jeffrey in dublin. this cost governments billions of dollars.

it is not something they are going to want to repeat. the who -- the w.h.o.'s advice is going to cost them billions again if there is another pandemic. there has to be hesitancy. jeffrey: there is definitely hesitancy. governments are thinking about politics, economics, and they do not always play the long game. if they had acted earlier, even before in january 2020, i do not think we would be where we are now. if they followed the w.h.o.'s advice and many organizations had strong research about how to control it and end the pandemic as a public health threat, they would not just be saving money now, but saving lives. earlier we were faced with huge

numbers of deaths and high mortality. now it is a question of morbidity come along covid, and suffering because governments are not reacting strongly enough. host: margaret in geneva, you have heard what our two guests have had to say. it seems we need a document with more teeth. margaret: this is a distillation of what we have learned, but we have many documents with a lot of teeth. with africa particularly, but countries at the back of the queue, we knew would be at the back of the queue, for vaccines and all the equipment and tests, because we have seen this over and over again. the wealthy grab resources quickly. we set up this for this very reason. it is not perfect and has not achieved everything we have wanted, but we have got vaccines out to many countries.

we have not done nearly as many as we need to. it is correct to say many countries in africa are not in the position we want them to be in. we have a member states that have vaccinated less than 11% of their populations. the first of these policy briefs emphasizes the need to vaccinate 100% of your high risk groups, your older people and health care workers. it is important to have raised the issue of getting vaccination levels up. i would like to thank professor lazarus for pointing out the critical thing, governments need to act when the alarm is raised and act together and apply things. if they spend the money early, it may seem like a bit of money, but it is less than we have lost and the terrible economic consequences we have seen as a result of not acting early when the alarm was raised.

host: governments need to act together is something you mentioned, but we do not have a u.n. security council for health or mechanism where governments can discuss a unified approach. that during the government -- that during the pandemic was laid bare. how do you get governments to act in unity? jeffrey: we do have a un security council. almost 20 years ago it passed a resolution on hiv-aids as a major security threat. there is that option to go through the security council. we also have the world health assembly which governs the w.h.o., where they have been discussing covid-19. similar to other w.h.o. strategies, whether viral hepatitis, hiv or other conditions, we have those six policy documents, but all the other guidance and information in one place with a clear set of

targets, a commitment to measure it, and having that approved at the world health assembly or emergency meeting of the world health assembly, so we can be monitoring and know what needs to be done and when. right now there are a lot of w.h.o. documents, technical guidance, normative standards, but we need it clearly in one place, what to do and when, and for governments to approve it. host: when hiv aids was confined to the african continent, i remember as a teenager growing up in the u.k., people talking about it. when it became a problem in the west governments began to act. that did not happen this time around. do you think there needs to be a stronger, more global focused alliance just for health? sarah: as jeffrey mentioned,

there are lots of policy documents. the real question is not just the commitment, but delivery on promises. even this time around there are promises made. the g20, g7. many western countries promised a lot. we will recycle $100 billion in sdr's to cushion fiscal restraints. today we are at $58 billion. how much has actually been recycled to the country? zero. there is a gap between the promise and the actual delivery. that is what we need to bridge. it is not enough to have a policy document or make the declaration at the u.n. or g7 or g20. what matters is the delivery. with this pandemic it seemed if the world was a building and one part was on fire, as long as the part not on fire felt safe, they

did not put out the fire. but the truth of the matter is, just like any interconnected issue, it happens over there eventually. but we are not seeing that intellectual connection made and matched with the will of politics. i do not know what it will take apart from affecting people in the west. i do not know what it will take for people to see us all as interconnected. all of us -- each of us are not safe until all of us are safe. the narrative is catching up, folks are understanding it, but we need to bridge the promises and delivery. host: margaret, i see you nodding in agreement. the lancet medical journal issued their report. if this was a school report it would be, must try harder. there is a lot of criticism,

there were delays acknowledging covid-19 was spreading by air, the list goes on, the criticisms. how do you make sure we have learned and can do better? margaret: i think one of the critical things is having a good and continuing assessment of what is going on all the time and always updating, and really learning and looking. again, it is good to have commissions and reports like this. but sarah made an important point. you can go to previous outbreaks. we knew the well-resourced countries would be grabbing all the resources because we saw it in previous outbreaks. we have learned all these lessons. let's apply them. can we really work together? that is my hope from all of this. i have seen some of that with the science world.

i have seen the scientific world working together day in, day out. the people i would like to thank our all the scientists who come every day, unpaid, joined thousands of meetings to debate and argue. they often disagree, but have changed what we learned. they developed the vaccines, the changing in understanding how the virus works. they found the variants. listen to the people who are committing to working together and changing things and apply the lessons. host: jeffrey, the lancet medical commission report made leak reading for people of the w.h.o., people who are still worried about covid-19. were their findings valid? jeffrey: i think they were. the grade was not try harder, that was the recommendation.

the grade was, the world collectively failed. we point out where the failures were in an effort to make changes moving ahead. that is where we came ahead with 11 recommendations including strengthening w.h.o. and multilateralism, but also, that we have a global strategy. every country has a preparedness plan. countries did not have those plans before the pandemic even though w.h.o. and others have been encouraging them to do it. i remember at w.h.o. 20 years ago we asked countries to have these kind of plans. over 2.5 years into the pandemic, still most countries are not having a plan. we had a vaccine plus approach. we heard vaccine hesitancy, poor distribution, under 10% of the population vaccinated, lots of

consuming about getting boosters, which vaccine to use. we also have to think about beyond the vaccine, how to make the world a better place, including better filtration, and even with simple things like opening doors and windows, because it helps disperse virus, since it was transmitted through aerosols. host: i want to change the flow of the conversation for a minute. we are talking about the idea that things can be done better and you have recommendations. the w.h.o. seems to have listened. we are in a good place for information, guidance, but we are still fighting anti-vaxxers, misinformation, the internet. even people within my own family are reading things that are plainly ridiculous, but they completely believe them.

the misinformation was one of the biggest problems. is that being addressed? jeffrey: the w.h.o. called this an infodemic, and rightly so. there are people asking questions, but those who are spreading misinformation, false information, on purpose, creating chaos and confusion, and on a pretty regular basis. we need a better response, a multilingual response. we also need to address, just like it is illegal to provide inside information that can affect the stocks and stock markets, we need to get better at cracking down on those dividing false information on the platforms allowing that false information to be spread. just like we talked about "inside story" half a year ago with the spotify controversy. host: sarah, it must be a real

concern for you, the spread of misinformation. how do you deal with that? sarah: two things. today we are working with the au in ethiopia, going on the streets to educate people on vaccines. listening to what hesitation looks like, reinforcing the good messages and debunking the false information. among those champions are doctors in ethiopia, on the ground. those efforts are important. in the midst of the pandemic we had a campaign, a concert with the au and tiktok. meet people where they are, on social media. we had a game, a myth or truth of the vaccine?

that reached over 100 million people with that element. we all need to do more. there are regulatory elements that can be infused. just like jeffrey said, just like insider information is illegal, sharing this information should have a penalty, but we need to spread positive information. this pandemic could be one of many. how did we make sure at the next cycle we are taking those lessons the w.h.o. released, and are setting ourselves up better for the next pandemic that comes? information tackling is one of the high points. host: the w.h.o. did a good job getting information out. the director general was on a news channel almost every day giving updates. the information was there, but sarah makes a good point.

a lot of young people get information from tiktok, social media. is that the new battleground for the w.h.o.? is that where you need to put your resources? margaret: we are putting information on all platforms to reach different audiences. if you are a young person, tiktok is where you could be. or if you are an old person or not a person that reads, you could be reached by your neighbor, your doctor. it is highly variable, but what we have found, it is right to say we labeled this an infodemic . we have a whole team of experts and teams with tech companies that have been tremendously helpful to understand what is going on, who can we reach, how? we developed a system called social listening. it is not just about talking to them, but listening.

what do they need from us? we are not good if we are not responding to what people in the world are thinking, doing. we want to be acting on things that will protect their health and lives. host: jeffrey, the pandemic is coming to an end. why do we need to fight anymore? it is nearly over, let's just move on to something else. jeffrey: the end is in sight, and a lot of media picked that up. but other experts at the press conference said, we can expect more cases, possible waves. it is possible or probable we will see new variants, and variants of concern. it is a sense of guarded optimism. we were in a good spot with great vaccines and knowledge of the virus, how it spreads, how

to address the disease, preventing and treating it, but i do not think -- if the end is in sight, it is elusive and far down the road. now is not the time to let up our guard, especially into the autumn and winter months, when people will be inside more, where we can expect more transmission. it is fertile ground for more variants. host: too early, those words? margaret: as jeffrey said, that was not all he said. the sentence is, we are not there yet, but the end is in sight. we could see a potential finish line. now is the worst time to stop running. the message is we could get there, but we have to do so much. all the things we need to do as

a country going into cooler months or a period when you are crowded together, having mass gatherings, that is when you have to take more precautions, when you have to think about wearing masks. that is when you have to have the windows open. we have to get serious about ventilation. we have not seen efforts to improve ventilation, working conditions, schools. all the things that led us here, we have to change, and the work has to be done now. host: jeffrey, very quickly, these six policy briefings, this new optimism from the w.h.o., is this just for covid-19 or future proofing for further variants, or a different type of disease? jeffrey: it is absolutely future proofing. these are the kinds of messages that are relevant now and in future.

the goal is to end this pandemic as a public health threat. these policy briefs contribute to it. we need governments and input from the population to have a stronger strategy or plan. when i worked at w.h.o., we had public hearings and it was approved by member states. we need that kind of engagement so people feel a part of it, so they are heard, and governments are financing what needs to be the activities to carry them out, whether it is vaccine production and distribution, etc. host: are you optimistic about the future? sarah: while we are thinking about the future, there is still the present. i heard now is the time to work harder. economic challenges are current, presence. 30 million jobs have been lost.

food prices are up. fuel prices are up. african countries need $284 billion just to shore up their economy. many are bankrupt or at risk of being bankrupt. it feels like a luxury to think about the future when the present is so dire. it is a health crisis, but also an economic crisis. for african countries, we are in the middle of an economic crisis. host: i want to thank all of our guests. and i want to thank you as well for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website, aljazeera.com. for further discussion go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. for me and the team, goodbye for now. ♪

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