Suggestions for the next Pandemic!

by | 2023/04/12 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, International News, National News

Suggestions for the next Pandemic!

Last week I mentioned five lessons we learned from the pandemic. In this article, I have recommendations so that we are prepared to deal with the next pandemic.

1.1. Official inquiry

We need to have an official inquiry in Ireland about the restrictive measures implemented by the government during the pandemic. Only then will we be able to improve our preparation in the future. That was the suggestion of Labor Party Deputy Duncan Smith recently.

“If we don't have that inquiry soon we will only have more media commentary, newspaper articles, best-selling books and academic assessments of what we did or didn't do. That's ultimately not useful for learning from our mistakes and building on what we did right,” Smith said.

I think he is right and this is the first step in moving towards devising better processes for the next pandemic.

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2.Government investment in proven solutions

The experts were able to study the spread and treatments of the COVID-19 virus in depth during the pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccines are effective and safe, and people who are vaccinated are less likely to get severe disease. The new type of Vaccines – messenger RNA vaccines -- are as good and in some ways better than the traditional vaccines – viral-vector vaccines. For example, it will be faster to develop new vaccines with messenger RNA vaccines than with conventional vaccines – which is extremely important.

We also know how effective masks are against any airborne virus, and especially N-95 or KN-95 type masks. Social distancing is also important as a tool against the spread of the virus, and indoors a HEPA filter is very useful to provide clean air.

Therefore, the government needs to invest sufficiently in these things:

• Personal protective equipment for people caring for people infected with the disease and especially for medical staff.
• N-95 or KN-95 masks for the general public.
• Disease tests for the general public.
• Grant assistance for companies to purchase and install HEPA filters.
• Information and teaching material explaining the instructions and rules relating to the pandemic in English and Irish.
• Grants available for researchers working in the field.

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3. Early Warning System

The sooner we find out that a disease is spreading, the fewer people will die. Here are a few strategies that would help with an early warning system:

• Wastewater monitoring: this technology is used to monitor COVID-19 in the United States. They were able to predict an increase in cases of COVID-19 in local areas a few weeks in advance by analyzing waste water data, and carry out remedial work based on that.
• Respiratory Virus and Microbiome Initiative: Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire in England plan to develop tools to identify new viral threats. It is genomic surveillance and the researchers were able to quickly identify changes in the virus in Great Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are now working on a system that would be able to detect infectious diseases with one inexpensive test.

It will be important for all countries to have an early warning system, with an obligation to report anything significant to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Conclusion

In my opinion, we need to have plans in two broad areas to get the best results in the next pandemic:

• Science: It is clear that science involvement in this business is vital. We have learned a lot that will be very useful in dealing much better with the next pandemic than the last one. Relevant research is also ongoing. We will be able to find infectious diseases quickly, develop vaccines and cures quickly, and better answer the question – what resources and constraints are most important to us?
• Politics: We will not be able to implement any proposal without there being the political will at a national level. Therefore, it is extremely important to focus our attention on the three points mentioned above and to keep pressure on our government to implement them. On an international level, we need to work with other countries and the World Health Organization hand in hand, because we need to have a coordinated effort towards the next pandemic.

Let's hope we don't see another pandemic, but that if we do we'll be ready to defeat it!

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