International Expert Panel Says COVID-19 Catastrophe Was Preventable: Report
Experts say poor choices, unwillingness to address inequalities, and failing systems are to blame.
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In a report published by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, a “combination of poor strategic choices, unwillingness to tackle inequalities and an uncoordinated system” at both a country and international level was blamed for the “preventable disaster” that is COVID-19.
It is little wonder that some TB vaccine researchers suffer from a rare syndrome that understandably threatens their mental health. Symptoms include frustration, impatience, irritability, seemingly inexplicable rage and, in the least resilient, despair.
It is called VJS or Vaccine Jealousy Syndrome in 99% of cases associated with the sudden appearance and out of kilter funding of, (in an astoundingly short 12 months), Covid-19 vaccines.
Never ones to miss an opportunity, even though they carry the research begging bowl, the TB crew have started leveraging the remarkable scientific advances that produce vaccines with up to 95% efficacy against Covid-19. Even so, researchers say that based on current information it will take up to five years for the top TB vaccine candidate, M72, to complete sufficiently large Phase III trials.
To unleash this potential, the panel recommended that WHO member states remove barriers to real-time digital surveillance, especially concerning respiratory pathogens, created by the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) the main international legal instrument on infectious diseases. By exploiting the capabilities of digital technologies and changing legal rules that prevent a precautionary approach, the panel seeks to empower the WHO to “publish information about outbreaks with pandemic potential on an immediate basis, without requiring the prior approval of national governments.”
This proposal raises several issues. First, the panel makes no recommendations on how to address the infodemic crisis it identified as a defining feature of the pandemic. As COVID-19 demonstrated,disinformation is a potent way to create serious problems for governments, international organizations, and individuals concerning infectious diseases. The proliferation of disinformation heightens th
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Passengers at Hankou railway station in Wuhan, China, on 22 January 2020, the day before the government locked down the city. Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua/Eyevine/Redux
China overhauls its public health bureaucracy
May. 18, 2021 , 3:35 PM
The Chinese government, roundly criticized at home and abroad for its initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, appears to have taken some lessons from that crisis. On 13 May, it announced an overhaul of its public health bureaucracy, centered on the creation of a new national agency that will report directly to China’s State Council. On paper, at least, the new structure should help bypass the layers of bureaucracy that stymied the timely flow of information from local authorities in Wuhan and Hebei province to top national officials in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.
Wildlife trade, for example in pangolins, is one area of concern for causing zoonotic disease outbreaks. Credit: Frendi Apen Irawan/Wikimedia
As the world looks to a future after COVID-19, experts are urging governments to concentrate on preventing viruses from spilling over into humans. But this takes cross-departmental co-ordination, bringing together the needs of people, animals and our planet. Catherine Early reports on the policy challenges and the ‘one health’ approach
The word “unprecedented” has been used widely in the past year, as waves of the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 surged around the globe. But while it may have been unprecedented, the pandemic was not unexpected – coming as little surprise to scientists who had been studying the rise of zoonotic disease outbreaks in recent years.