DUBAI, 1 February 2022 – Global experts have stressed the urgent need for the international community to collaborate in preparedness and prevention against new pandemics, particularly in regard to protecting vulnerable populations.
‘The Next Wave | Preventing and Preparing to Beat Future Pandemics’ event – held in association with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Speakers at the hybrid ‘The Next Wave | Preventing and Preparing to Beat Future Pandemics’ event – held in association with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences as part of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Health and Wellness Week – underscored that the fight against COVID-19 must continue as long as people remain without access to vaccinations – a figure that currently amounts to roughly three billion people, mostly in low-income countries.
Dr Seth Berkley, CEO at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is a co-lead on COVAX, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, delivering more than 1 billion doses in less than a year, said: “COVAX has proven that it can deliver, but we faced obstacles including a lack of early at-risk funding, vaccine awarding, export restrictions and scaling up of manufacturing, which led to delays in equitable access that we cannot afford.”
Dr Berkley urged leaders from public and private sectors to renew their support and help raise the minimum needed USD 5.2 billion in additional funds over the next three months as part of an initiative titled the Gavi COVAX AMC 2022 Investment Opportunity. “This [investment] will help COVAX create a pandemic vaccine pool, a buffer to protect its supply in case of future bottlenecks, and meet the emerging needs of countries, which is ultimately what it will take to stifle this virus,” he said.
Dr Seth Berkley, CEO at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is a co-lead on COVAX, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
Dr Rhoda Wanyenze, Professor and Dean, School of Public Health, Makerere University, spoke about the effects of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Africa, and specifically Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Senegal. Such measures often restricted access to food, water and education in vulnerable communities, and hampered access to healthcare services for other diseases, which led to Ebola and polio outbreaks.
Dr Donald Kaberuka, Chair, The Global Fund Board, said: “We cannot separate old and new pandemics, but instead need a package that handles all of them together… We have to invest in dealing with COVID because it is a danger to [progress on] other pandemics, which have been killing many more people than COVID itself, like AIDS and malaria. These are largely a problem in the Global South rather than wealthy countries, and therefore the attention and bandwidth is narrower – and this is a huge risk for the achievements of the last 25 years.”
Discussing zoonotic diseases that are at the root of many pandemics, Dr Neil Vora, pandemic prevention fellow, Conservation International, argued that pandemic prevention – such as combatting deforestation to reduce human wildlife interaction and regulating wildlife trade and markets – is far more economical and effective. “If implemented properly, pandemic prevention activities would cost USD 10-20 billion annually, compared to the millions of lives and trillions of dollars lost from a pandemic such as COVID,” said Dr Vora.
Moreover, Professor Andrew Cunningham, Deputy Director of Science, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, highlighted that the drivers of zoonotic disease emergence are also the force behind biodiversity loss and climate change, meaning that investing in pandemic prevention could address several global challenges at once.
The drivers of zoonotic disease emergence are also the force behind biodiversity loss and climate change, meaning that investing in pandemic prevention could address several global challenges at once.
Health and Wellness Week is one of 10 Theme Weeks held under Expo 2020’s Programme for People and Planet, offering an exchange of inspiring new perspectives to address the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time.
ameerul.hasan@thechangemakers.news
