Even though epidemiologists have warned us about the threat of a pandemic, the world was far from prepared when the current COVID-19 pandemic hit. One and a half years later, we are finally getting our everyday lives back. However, looking back on the COVID-19 outbreak, what will hindsight tell us. More importantly, what have we learned to better prepare for the next pandemic.
Currently, the systems we have to combat the pandemic are too slow. First, a new case needs to be reported to the authorities and then recorded by the World Health Organization (WHO). They gather the data in their Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network to analyze and identify if an outbreak could be harmful. As we have seen with the current pandemic, COVID-19 had already spread around the globe by the time the WHO communicated their conclusion. Hence, to reduce the threat from new diseases, data worldwide has to be continuously gathered and analyzed for a quicker response.
As seen from Israel’s experience analyzing real-world data and quick response helped decrease the number of serious infections. The country was a pioneer in rolling out the Pfizer vaccine to more than half of its population. Also, closely tracking their results, Israel’s hospitalizations and infections were quick to decline. Nevertheless, there are more ways to combat and even prevent disease outbreaks utilizing current technologies and data.
In Thailand, they believe that the community should be more involved in preventing outbreaks. A Thai national developed a digital surveillance app called Participatory One Health Disease Detection (PODD) for detecting diseases in animals that could eventually pass to humans. This system relies on volunteers to report data to identify disease outbreaks and will then notify the research organizations. Two hundred ninety-six volunteers reported 1029 abnormal events in their environment during a trial, including sick or diseased animals. Afterwards, a report stated that a total of 36 potential disease outbreaks were successfully detected and controlled.
The WHO is designing a hub as part of their Health Emergencies Programme; this will bundle the resources they are already utilizing. Diverse partnerships in multiple disciplines, data, the latest technology and intelligence will all be combined and shared for governments worldwide to use. This hub will support experts and health organizations to create better forecasts, detect and assess and pandemic risks faster.
Everyone will have to contribute to preventing the next pandemic, starting with the global agencies down to the individuals. With the right experts to analyze the correct data, we can understand the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and gain the necessary insights to take appropriate actions to detect and hopefully prevent a future pandemic.
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