At a ‘critical’ time for pandemic preparedness, experts say the world is not ready
Government funding cuts and a lack of trust in public health authorities mean the world is not ready for the next pandemic, according to the report. a report issued on Monday by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB).
“We are at an important moment in the history of pandemic preparedness as a global community,” GPMB co-chair Joy Phumaphi told CBC News.
“Everyone who is responsible for the welfare and development of their people should be concerned because we are definitely not ready for the next pandemic.”
Frequent outbreaks of infectious diseases have increasing health, economic, political and social impacts, according to the report, which says investments have not kept pace with rising pandemic risks, meaning there is little leverage to recover from them.
On key measures – equal access to diagnosis, vaccines and treatment – the GPMB report says the world is going backwards.
“We need an army of public health workers,” said Phumaphi. “Everyone needs to be prepared for the next pandemic.”
The Awakening of Mother Nature
If anything, the latest hantavirus outbreak — which includes three deaths and 11 confirmed and probable cases, but is spreading in such a way that experts don’t worry about an epidemic — should be a “wake-up call,” said Peter Hotez, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and director of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.
“Mother Nature doesn’t play coy with us,” he said, likening it to a scene from the 1980 movie Ghostbusters.
“You see a skeleton in a taxi and you see a green blob on the dining room table and you know something bad is about to go down. That’s where I think we are now.”
Humanity is facing a three-headed monster – pandemics, climate change and disinformation – that is blocking our ability to respond, Hotez wrote in a widely shared interview. social media commentary.
1/n: I could be wrong, of course, but my take on this hantavirus outbreak is less about the actual outbreak and more about what it means in the context of the last two decades and moving forward. Let me explain…
Both Hotez and Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, say the risk will increase as a direct result of the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization and spend hundreds of millions on mRNA vaccine development and aid groups around the world.
“We will successfully enter a situation where it will be the same as everyone else,” Rasmussen said.
“We’re going to be in real trouble if a virus emerges in a place we’re not equipped to deal with — and that would be Canada.”
‘Bring back germs’
Distrust of government and public health institutions, combined with attacks on scientific institutions, political polarization and the “organized disinformation machine” are also major threats, Hotez said.
“It’s all very dark and very dangerous because that disinformation campaign is disrupting important public health responses,” she said.
“When we talk about national security, we’re quick to talk about defense, right? …
Rasmussen sees that threat made Losing Canada’s measles eradication status late last year. The disease is “completely preventable,” and the vaccine has been safe and effective for more than 50 years.
“That should be the biggest call of all – that we are rejecting a public health victory that has saved millions of lives,” Rasmussen said.
“We’re deciding not to because of politics and lies. We’re basically saying, ‘Nah, bring back the bacteria.’
As the hantavirus-hit ship prepares to dock in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alberta, explains how this outbreak differs from the COVID-19 pandemic and how lessons from the latter can be applied here.
Canada’s preparedness
Still, despite the dire GPMB report, experts say Canada may be better prepared in some ways for another pandemic than in 2020.
“Canada is stepping up its biomedical research,” said David Safronetz, who studies pathogenic zoonotic bacteria at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
“There is a strong emphasis on public health research and preparedness. We work a lot with international partners.”
When it came to COVID-19, a series of auditor general reports would later find that the country had outdated systems, weak data sharing systems and stockpiles of mismanaged vaccines.
PHAC has since taken steps to address that risk through expansion surveillance systemsstock planning, genetic sequencing and emergency coordination. Canada is also rebuilding its domestic medicine and medical supply capabilities.
Meanwhile, provincial governments have more experience managing mass vaccinations, ICU operations, border measures and public relations.
“Thank goodness Canada is hanging in there and sticking to science,” Hotez said.
Canada is no longer in measles eradication status due to an outbreak that has lasted more than a year. About 84 percent of reported measles cases in Canada by 2025 were in Ontario and Alberta, which experts attributed to the decline in measles vaccination. Canada can reset its status if the current outbreak is interrupted for at least 12 months.
However, social and structural weaknesses remain.
“The biggest problem with preparedness is about the Canadian way of doing things,” Rasmussen said.
“There’s a lot of discussion about how we decide what to do to prepare and not a lot of preparation.”
What needs to be done
Currently, political commitments to respond to the global pandemic are “absent,” Phumaphi said.
To that end, the GPMB report includes three key recommendations:
- Establish a permanent, independent monitoring system to track the risk of an epidemic.
- Ensuring equal access to life-saving medicines, tests and treatment by concluding the WHO pandemic agreement.
- Implement sustainable funding for defense, preparedness and “Day Zero” response activities.
