Posted on 12/16/2022 12:35 PM / Updated on 12/16/2022 12:35 PM
(Credit: Hector RETAMAL/AFP)
The first case of Covid19 was detected in China three years ago, the start of a disease that has spread across the world and which experts say should now serve as a lesson for the next pandemic.
“We’re not moving enough to be ready,” William Rodriguez, director of Find, a United Nationssupervised foundation whose goal is to improve access to diagnostic tests around the world, told AFP.
Tests, especially those that can be done at home, are essential to prevent the spread of a disease. Other devices include identifying viruses or bacteria that may cause the next pandemic, discovering vaccines or emergency treatments, or manufacturing and distributing those products.
Member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) have started international negotiations to combat future pandemics. The World Bank, on the other hand, has created its own fund, which is fed by the G20 countries (around 1.6 billion US dollars so far).
“Some Mutations”
The initiatives are also private. In Australia, tycoon Geoffrey Cumming pledged $170 million to fund a research center led by infectologist Sharon Lewin.
This team will focus on developing technologies that can serve as the basis for rapidly adaptable treatments against emerging pathogens.
The messenger RNA vaccines that were developed against Covid are used as a model. The Australian center is due to be ready in about six months, Sharon Lewin told AFP.
The goal is to know how to react urgently to an unknown pathogen, but anticipation also involves identifying known risks.
The WHO is working to update its list of monitored microbes. In addition to the flu, the focus is on corona viruses in general and the highly dangerous Ebola and Zika viruses.
“Just a few mutations of each of these viruses” are enough to multiply their spread, warns epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University in the United States.
Other closely monitored pathogens are the arena or paramyxoviruses, which include measles and mumps, or the Marburg virus.
“Multiple Crises”
Above all, experts and activists fear a lack of political will, as with financing. The CEPI organization, cofounded by several countries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight epidemics, is seeking $800 million to develop a fiveyear plan.
Added to this is the thorny issue of access to vaccines, starting with the poorest countries. “For me, the tragedy of Covid was the uneven distribution of vaccines, even when they were already accessible,” says Nuzzo.
Experts agree: if there is no quick and cheap access to vaccines in Latin America, Africa or Asia, the next crisis will not provide an adequate response.
However, discussions about patents within the WHO are “extremely worrying,” says Mohga KamalYanni, representative of the NGO People’s Vaccine Alliance.
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