中国青年科技工作者协会致世卫组织总干事谭德塞的公开信

导读——近日，世界卫生组织提出第二阶段新冠病毒溯源计划，在中国各界引发热议，中青科协会同993名会员，写了致世卫组织总干事谭德塞的公开信，已于8月23日通过世卫组织驻华代表处提交，全文如下：

中国青年科技工作者协会致世卫组织总干事谭德塞的公开信

尊敬的谭德塞先生：

首先向您致以真挚问候。中国青年科技工作者协会是由中国青年科技英才和地方、行业专业团体组成的社会组织，会员涵盖科学研究和技术发展所有领域。我们协会秘书处代表全体会员借此信对世界卫生组织秘书处第二阶段新冠病毒溯源工作计划的合理性和科学性提出质疑。

我们认为，此前世卫组织-中国联合研究报告基于由中国专家和来自世卫组织及10个国家的国际专家组成的国际联合专家组在武汉28天的事实研究和专业分析，充分体现了严谨求实的科学态度和专业精神。这项工作的过程及其成果受到了国际社会和科学界的广泛认可，应当得到包括世卫组织秘书处在内的各方的尊重。同时，为了全人类的安康，中国的真诚和无私支持当然起到了至关重要的作用，中国的巨大付出不应当受到任何亵渎。

我们认为，病毒溯源是严谨的科学问题，不宜受政治因素干扰。政治不能凌驾于科学之上。我们坚决反对把对中国的恶意揣测和不负责任的假设与科学依据混为一谈，把最先报告疫情的国家与起源地混为一谈。我们坚决反对个别国家罔顾科学和事实，执意出台情报部门所谓溯源问题报告，炒作已被世卫组织-中国联合研究报告认定“极不可能”的所谓“武汉实验室泄露论”。

我们认为，病毒溯源研究是项长期工作，应当在全球范围内多点开展、循序渐进。追溯新冠病毒的起源不应仅仅研究某个特定时间和地点的事件，而应关注不同时空的亲缘动物病毒、早期跨种传播和早期人类感染证据。同时，新冠病毒从自然宿主到中间宿主再到人的传播有可能发生在多个地点，也有可能在多地独立进化，可靠的结论应在更广的地理区域和更长的时间跨度进行数据积累和系统研究。正如对H1N1流感、埃博拉病毒的溯源一样，新冠病毒溯源是需要持续探究的复杂课题，现在还远未到下结论的时候。

面对这场全人类的重大考验，世卫组织在协调全球抗疫工作方面付出了艰苦努力，取得的成绩有目共睹。我们真诚地恳请您和世卫组织秘书处的各位成员继续秉持“努力增进世界各地每一个人的健康”的宗旨，继续尊重科学、排除恶意干扰，为全球疫情防控和病毒溯源工作提供正确指导，不断提升抗疫措施执行效果和疫苗全球可及性。

我们真诚希望世卫组织秘书处能够给予全球医学工作者、科学研究人员更多支持、鼓励和信任，引领他们共同投入到推动跨国科学研究、提升全人类健康福祉的伟大事业中。我们协会医疗卫生领域的全体成员愿与各国同行一道，协同研究、共享成果，用专业知识和科学精神共筑全人类的抗疫“长城”。

最后，祝愿全世界人民早日战胜疫情！祝您身体健康、工作顺利！

中国青年科技工作者协会秘书处

2021年8月23日

Letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHOfrom The Chinese Association of Young Scientists and Technologists 

August 23 2021

Respected Dr. Tedros,

First of all, we’d like to convey our sincere greetings to you. The Chinese Association of Young Scientists and Technologists is a social organization composed of young science and technology talents, regional and industrial professional groups. The members of our association cover all fields of scientific research and technological development. On behalf of all the members, the secretariat of the association has written this letter to question the rationality and scientific nature regarding to the WHO plan for the second phase of the SARS-CoV-2 global origin tracing.

We believe that the previously released report of joint WHO-China study of origins of SARS-CoV-2 has been prepared with the professional study and analysis of facts, carried out by the joint study team of Chinese experts and international experts from WHO and ten countries, over a 28-day period in Wuhan. It represents a rigorous scientific attitude and professional spirit, and its working process and outcome has been widely recognized by the international society and the scientific community. This report is deserved to be respected by all the parties including WHO Secretariat. China has played a vital role in promoting public health of the mankind, and any defamation would be unfair to our sincerity and selfless support.

We believe that study of virus origins is a matter of science, and should not be affected by the political factors. Politics should not be placed above science. Any malicious speculation and irresponsible hypothesis against China that have no scientific evidence should not be mentioned, nor should a country which reported the first infection case be considered as the origin place of the virus. The insistence on the publication of the so-called origin tracing report from the intelligence agency of a handful of countries is against the science and the facts. We strongly oppose hyping up “Wuhan lab leak hypothesis” which has already been recognized as “extremely unlikely” in the WHO-China joint report.

We believe that study of virus origins is a long-term mission, and this research should be conducted worldwide step by step. A single event in certain time and location should not be the only thing worthy of studying. More attention should be paid to the parent viruses from animals, early-stage cross-species transmission and evidence to early-stage human infection in different times and spaces. Meanwhile, the virus transmitting from natural hosts to intermediate hosts and then to the human population might occur in different places, and the virus might evolve independently in multiple places. A reliable conclusion would be drawn by the systematic research and data accumulation covering more places and longer time span. Like tracing the origins of H1N1 influenza and Ebola virus, origin tracing of SARS-CoV-2 is a complex issue that requires continuous research and at present it is far from the final conclusion.
In face of this big challenge for all mankind, WHO has been making great efforts in promoting the international cooperation in terms of the COVID-19 response and the outcome speaks for itself. We sincerely plead with you and the members of the WHO Secretariat to continue taking the mission of “championing health and a better future for all”, and respecting science, eliminating malicious interference, and to provide reasonable guidance for global pandemic response and virus origin tracing, and improving the effectiveness of pandemic prevention measures and global availability of vaccines.

We sincerely hope that the WHO Secretariat would provide more support, encouragement and trust to medical workers and scientific researchers around the world. With your guidance, they would join their hands in promoting the international scientific cooperation and well-being of all people. All the members who work in the public health and medicine field in our association are willing to collaborate and share with their colleagues worldwide, and finally build a “Great Wall” of safeguarding human health with professional knowledge and scientific spirit.

Finally, we wish an ultimate victory against the pandemic would come soon. We also wish you good health and all the best.

Secretariat of 

The Chinese Association of Young Scientists and Technologists

世界卫生组织驻华代表处的复函

Confirmation letter from WHO’s China Office