On the morning of June 2, the press conference of the second Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia was held. Li Baodong, Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, and Margaret Chan, President of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia, called for a scientific and professional approach to the source of Covid-19 when answering questions from the press.

Li Baodong said that recently, the issue has been fired up due to some irresponsible remarks made by a certain country. In my opinion, this is a very professional and scientific issue, and conclusions must be made in a scientific, professional and factual manner, and by professionals engaged in medical research and virus research.

Rumors spread implying that the virus originated in Wuhan? Days ago, the Chinese government invited WHO experts to Wuhan to do a comprehensive investigation and conduct an in-depth study together with Chinese experts. They stated that it was "highly unlikely" that the Covid-19 originated in a laboratory when leaving.

The statements of medical experts and scientists are trustworthy, and we have to believe in science. The Chinese experts and the WHO experts both agreed on it. However, recently, a leader of a Western country said that he urged his intelligence agency to make a conclusion in three months, which I think is anti-science. Isn't it anti-scientific for an intelligence agency to make a conclusion on a scientific issue, or a medical issue? It is only credible that a conclusion on a virus should be made by specialists in virology or in medicine. If we really want science to serve and benefit mankind, we should not politicize it. So, on the issue of traceability, it is still important to bring the issue back to science and to the profession so that it can be credible. Politicization should be opposed.

Margaret Chan said that in the past 40 years there have been many new infectious diseases, such as AIDS, bird flu, SARS, H1N1, Ebola, and the judgment of WHO and experts is that the vast majority of new infectious diseases come from natural animals, and are then transmitted from animals to human.

Regarding the source of COVID-19, the WHO organized a team of experts, including Chinese experts, to work together to conduct a thorough study. As a senior public health professional, I fully agree with the experts' conclusion. It is useless to speculate on the source issue. It’s not right to politicize the COVID-19, and the most important thing is the life safety and health of the people, but not the speculation, which is disrespectful to human beings.