A lack of global leadership on coronavirus is more of a threat than the virus itself, the head of the World Health Organisation has said.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added that the politicisation of the fight against coronavirus has made it worse.
The WHO chief told a Dubai health forum: "The world is in desperate need of national unity and global solidarity. The politicisation of the pandemic has exacerbated it..."
"The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself - it's the lack of global solidarity and global leadership."
He did not explain his comments, but the WHO has come in for severe criticism from the US, which Donald Trump said last month would cut all ties with the health body, citing too much Chinese influence.
Dr Ghebreyesus said that the spread of the virus is still accelerating, and that its impact will last for decades.
He called for international health regulations to be strengthened to make them "more fit for purpose".
Dr Ghebreyesus added that global health needed "coordinated, predictable, transparent, broad-based and flexible funding" to work more efficiently.
He said that universal healthcare should be a priority for all countries, calling it "the foundation of global health security and of social and economic development.”
The WHO boss' comments come after coronavirus cases worldwide saw their biggest daily increase on Sunday, with more than 183,000 new infections recorded in 24 hours.
Nearly nine million people have been infected and more than 468,000 people have died so far, according to figures compiled by John Hopkins University.
