WHO, how is the war between Guerra, Zambon and Curtale going
Guerra rejects allegations of the cover-up of the WHO report, despite the emails written to Zambon. Meanwhile, the reasons for the tensions between Guerra and Curtale emerge
"I had no reason to censor it and neither had the authority." Speaking is Ranieri Guerra, WHO deputy director general, who in an interview with La Stampa , underlines his extraneousness about the withdrawal, after only 24 hours, of the WHO study in which Italy's response to the pandemic was told.
Yet, despite the current words of Guerra, it was precisely an email sent from the address of the WHO deputy director to ask the WHO official, Francesco Zambon, for some corrections to the study and the elimination of the "reference to that idiot of Curtale".
Let's go step by step.
WAR: NO POWER ON CENSOR
Let's start with Ranieri Guerra's version. “I had no reason to censor it and neither had the authority”, says Guerra in an interview with La Stampa in reference to the report “An unprecedented challenge. Italy's first response to Covid ” , written by 10 WHO researchers, published on the WHO website and withdrawn after only 24 hours.
“I had neither the competence nor the authority to have it published or removed. But I can tell you that I thought there were some excellent ideas and I tried to make it survive, proposing that two experts from the Higher Institute of Health join their colleagues in Venice to correct the imperfections and republish the improved document in a couple of minutes. days ”, continues Ranieri Guerra.
NO INTERVENTION ON ZAMBON
And Guerra also claims that he did not threaten with dismissal Francesco Zambon, a WHO researcher who led the group of 10 researchers who wrote the report.
“Even if I had wanted to, I would not have had the power to intervene on Zambon, which depends on Copenhagen and not Geneva. In the WHO there is an internal personnel protection mechanism: if Zambon felt subject to threats or pressures, he could have appealed following the institutional procedures ", explains the WHO deputy director, who adds that between him and Zambon 'is “no confrontation. Only a difference of opinion ”.
THERE WERE CORRECTIONS TO MAKE
Yet the deputy director of the WHO, who from the end of 2014 until October 2017 held the role of director general of Prevention of the Ministry of Health (and who is therefore responsible – according to what emerges from a Report investigation – for the failure to update of the pandemic plan), some corrections have requested it.
“From Geneva they asked me to view the report, to verify the accuracy of the data and information. After doing so, two hours after publication, I made suggestions for correcting a number of inaccuracies. Many of my observations have been accepted ”.
THE PANDEMIC PLAN WAS THERE
In the WHO study, for Guerra, it was necessary to "underline that there was a plan in place, so it would have been incorrect to ignore it, and that it included certain prescriptions that would probably have been useful for the initial stages of this pandemic, even though this is not a flu virus ".
AN OLD PLAN
And speaking of the pandemic plan, Guerra says: “The plan is updated in two cases: a different epidemiological situation regarding influenza viruses and new guidelines issued by the WHO. The first point has remained unchanged since it was written in 2006, while the second changed in 2018 "." Before I left in October 2017, I had alerted the minister (Beatrice Lorenzin, ed) to the need for a plan update. Then there were the elections, a new government, I don't know if it was done. In any case, it would always have been a plan against different viruses than Sars-Cov-2 ”, added Guerra.
PLAN NOT IMPLEMENTED
And that plan, although old, was nevertheless not followed. And this is "another problem, linked to the implementation of the plan, which provided for the availability of devices, even in the outdated version".
THE WAR MAIL
Yet, despite the words of Guerra to La Stampa , the e-mails remain on record. Sent to Zambon, coordinator of WHO researchers who wrote the dossier.
“You must correct immediately”, wrote Guerra. It is necessary to add "last updated December 2016".
“Don't mess with me about this. Tonight we go on the teeth of Report and we cannot be suicidal (…) Now I block everything (…). So he can't get out. Avoid bullshit. Thanks and sorry for the tone. Ranieri ".
WHAT WAR WRITES IN ZAMBON
And then, in another email, unveiled by Report , Guerra wrote to Zambon: "As you know, I am about to begin the process of parliamentary (and financial) reconfirmation in the center of Venice with the minister and I would not like to have to suffer delays or counterattacks" .
THE REFERENCE TO CURTALE
And then Ranieri Guerra also asks "remove the reference to that idiot of Curtale".
But who is Curtale? Filippo Curtale, doctor, writes La Verità , is director of UOC International Relations of the National Institute for the promotion of the health of migrant populations and the fight against diseases of poverty (Inmp). It is mentioned by Zambon in the report.
WHY IS CURTAL ANNOYING?
Curtale, on the site Saluteinternazionale.info , in an article titled "Once upon a time there was a pandemic plan" , writes: "Although we were alerted in time and we are in the best conditions to respond adequately to the pandemic, very little has been done to prevent it and check it. The pandemic plan was ignored, the virus entered Italy and circulated freely for weeks, the Italian epidemiological expertise was not activated ".
"The result was that, when the pandemic exploded, much of the available resources went to strengthen the hospital and intensive care system, with the media spotlight occupied by virologists, experts in vaccines and intensive care, while there would be a need to understand where we went wrong or what could be done to ensure that pandemic plans are applied successfully in the future ”. Curtale not only spoke of a failure to update the plan, but also claims that the pandemic plan that existed, albeit dated, was ignored.
CURTAL: THE BEHAVIOR OF WAR IS NOT SURPRISING
And it is precisely Curtale who, to the truth , says: "I worked with Ranieri Guerra in the Istituto Superiore di Sanità for a few months in 1994. Knowing him, I was not surprised that he insulted a colleague, I was surprised that he did it as a WHO staff , an organization that is usually very attentive to form ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/oms-come-va-la-guerra-fra-guerra-zambon-e-curtale/ on Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:54:15 +0000.