United States: A new disease will likely emerge, and the next pandemic will probably “catch the world napping” despite all the efforts made during Covid. The premier global organization that oversees it has cautioned.
More about the news
Several major elements of contemporary life – such as urbanization, high-intensity farming, increased inequality, the emergence of artificial intelligence – are raising the risk of a new pandemic,’ the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMI) said in its report on Monday, urging for increased preparedness.
The warning is given at a time that the world appears to be on the brink of another dress rehearsal – H5N1 bird flu is s continuing to spread to infect ordinary human beings from cattle and poultry in the United States, while a new strain of mpox with frightening potentiality for exploding into a pandemic in other parts of the world is sweeping through central Africa.
But as the report was being compiled, a more potent relative of Ebola, Marburg virus, has resurfaced in Rwanda to claim over a dozen lives with a mortality rate of between 80-88 percent.
The authors of the report suggested that “Changing patterns of life and the ongoing encroachment of human activities into natural environments” are “altering the global risk landscape and making the emergence of new pathogens more likely,” telegraph.co.uk reported.
Yet, when the nations united to combat COVID-19, there was a leap in great scientific and technological advancements, but epidemics today are even more prone to arise – epidemics for which the world is still not read.
What more has the report suggested?
As per the authors, “Humanity is better equipped than ever to contain outbreaks at source; it has better medical interventions that can reduce morbidity and mortality, and is better organized to respond through international frameworks such as the International Health Regulations.”
“Despite these improvements, made in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is every likelihood that the next pandemic will again catch the world napping without the readiness plans primed for implementation from day one,” they added.
Next pandemic – the world is not ready for
The GPMB, an independent body coordinated by the World Health Organisation’s Director-General and the World Bank’s President, reached three fundamental conclusions for governments and other organizations interested in planning for a pandemic, telegraph.co.uk reported.
The first is to address where and how risk profiling and risk assessment occurs to embrace comprehensively not just such factors as conflict or climate change that increase the risks of new epidemics but other factors that will affect what the world can do about it, such as digital connectivity and biomedical advancement.
It is suggested that world leaders prioritize equity in their preparedness plans, ensuring they “address the specific and basic needs of vulnerable populations,” in particular, access to “medical countermeasures” like vaccines or treatments.