Six Things Countries Can do Now to Mitigate Risk From the Next Pandemic
By: Michael Guterbock
Tags: International Relations, Politics, Health, Covid 19, Healthcare Innovations

One thing is certain: There will be another pandemic post COVID.

Even during the current COVID pandemic countries should prepare for the next disease outbreak. By planning now countries can minimize the risk to their citizen and economies. There are six key actions all countries in the world should take now to ensure that the next response to a global pandemic is handled more effectively than the COVID response. For those countries that cannot afford these measures it is the responsibility of wealthy countries, international organizations such as the World Health Organization, and private foundations to assist.

The six actions that must be taken now include:

Staff for Contact Tracing

Hire and train contract tracing staff to make sure people with an infectious disease are identified and their contacts are informed of possible disease exposure. The contact tracers should maintain their positions (at a lower salary) during non-pandemic times but be ready to jump into action when a disease outbreak occurs. This surge capacity will ensure there are enough trained staff when needed.

Stock Laboratory Testing Equipment

Stock public and private laboratories with the materials they need to conduct a high volume of tests. Since the actual disease of the next pandemic is not yet known, laboratories should stock up on materials that will be useful regardless of the disease, such as gloves, facemasks, reagents for testing kits, centrifuges, test tubes, etc. By having stores of these materials laboratories can be ready when the next pandemic strikes.

Disease Surveillance

All countries need to strengthen and increase the breadth of their infectious disease surveillance systems. Disease surveillance is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of large volumes of data originating from a variety of sources. Disease surveillance is essential to discovering emerging pandemics early. These systems need to have multiple sources for data coming into the public health systems, from hospitals, public health clinics, land border crossings, airports, and even private businesses. These data should be collected locally but stored at the national level, with the Ministry of Health. Improved disease surveillance means outbreaks can be spotted and controlled more quickly.

International Coordination

One of the biggest failures of the COVID response is the lack of international coordination. Countries currently act as if pandemic response is a zero-sum game. Countries must work together more closely to be effective and there are already organizations designed to better coordinate a pandemic response. The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is a group of 69 countries, international organizations, and private sector companies that work together to achieve the vision of a world safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases. The Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) is a partnership between Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States to strengthen public health preparedness and response globally to threats of pandemic influenza, and chemical, biological, and radio-nuclear terrorism. To strengthen public health system resilience for the next pandemic the GHSA and the GHSI should be enhanced and expanded to other countries.

Public Private Partnerships

Government cannot respond alone to the next pandemic and must assist the private sector via public-private-partnerships (PPP). The Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) is an effective example of PPP. BARDA, a US government agency, supports development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics from research through advanced development. Their support includes funding, technical assistance and core services, clinical research organization networks, to advanced development and manufacturing. They work with industry to share risk, improve efficiency, and accelerate development. The next pandemic requires that all governments develop PPP to ensure that treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics are available quickly and efficiently.

Stock Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for General Population

PPE such as gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, and soap, should be stocked so that the general population, medical clinics, schools, elder care facilities, and community centers have access to at least some supply of these important protection tools. These should be stocked in small caches spread out around the country so that all regions and localities have access to them quickly. Experience shows that PPE distribution is a problem if PPE is stored in only a few large caches.

Conclusion

Countries that fail to take these six steps now, even during the current pandemic, risk higher mortality and more severe economic downturns during the next pandemic. The COVID pandemic is clearly showing that those countries who started off more prepared for the pandemic, or quickly learned and adapted their systems, are effective in containing the disease outbreak. One thing is certain: There will be another pandemic. Countries must prepare themselves now or risk repeating the same mistakes we see during the COVID pandemic.