Predictions, pandemics and public health
4 years, 5 months ago

Predictions, pandemics and public health

The Hindu  

Human beings have two remarkable traits, the second of which we had little reason to suspect that we possessed until the rise of new technologies such as the Internet. If one tenth of the anticipatory gifts we have that seem to be exploited for immediate private gain on the part of corporations and investment bankers were put to use in the preventive domain of public health, not only would the crisis that we have been landed in be swiftly contained, it might even have been pre-empted by suitable medical safeguards. And so, even though there are very good reasons for having a public health care system, the fact that it will help to control the spread of a pandemic could not have been expected to be one of the reasons considered for proposing a good public health system, where it is missing. And second, I don’t deny that there is a distinction between 1) Effectively controlling the spread of a pandemic is one of the many reasons we would and should consider for proposing a good public health care system, and 2) Were there a good public health care system, it would effectively control the spread of a pandemic. Comment | A prediction model for COVID-19 Those who did not consider the need to control the spread of an anticipated pandemic as one among the other good reasons to have a good public health care system where it is missing were simply insouciant.

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History of this topic

Column: Can Stanford tell the difference between scientific fact and fiction? Its pandemic conference raises doubts
2 months, 1 week ago

Column: Can Stanford tell the difference between scientific fact and fiction? Its pandemic conference raises doubts

LA Times  

Jonathan Levin, the newly appointed president of Stanford, seen here speaking at a forum at the university’s business school in April, when he was the school’s dean. On Oct. 4, Stanford University’s newly minted president, Jonathan Levin, opened an on-campus conference about pandemic policies by expressing the hope that the proceedings would “bring together people with different perspectives, engage in …

Will we be prepared for "Disease X?" Misinformation could leave us vulnerable to a future pandemic
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Will we be prepared for "Disease X?" Misinformation could leave us vulnerable to a future pandemic

Salon  

Pandemics have always been a major part of human history, they still dominate our present to some degree, and it would be prudent to prepare for them in the future to avoid the worst case scenario. “There's always the sense of ‘Is there another virus family out there that could cause a problem?’ They needed a “Disease X,” he said. …

Chris Whitty: Britain’s Covid plans were ‘woefully deficient’ – even for a flu pandemic
1 year, 1 month ago

Chris Whitty: Britain’s Covid plans were ‘woefully deficient’ – even for a flu pandemic

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Britain’s pandemic plans …

Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: Unanswered questions, lessons learnt and ongoing challenges
1 year, 2 months ago

Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: Unanswered questions, lessons learnt and ongoing challenges

Firstpost  

The COVID-19 pandemic that impacted all aspects of human life, quite literally cancelled the planet. Was any internal advice given to the Government of India that the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna were better, despite the fact that they were significantly more expensive and difficult to administer? Covishield, developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca in the UK, is similar to previous …

Expert calls for future pandemic planning amid ‘signals’ from bird flu
1 year, 3 months ago

Expert calls for future pandemic planning amid ‘signals’ from bird flu

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

WHO, Believes Disease X Could Create A Pandemic Like Situation, All You Need To Know
1 year, 7 months ago

WHO, Believes Disease X Could Create A Pandemic Like Situation, All You Need To Know

News 18  

As the world gradually returns to a sense of normalcy following the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the scientific and public health communities remain steadfast in their preparations for future outbreaks and pandemics. As the global community reflects on the challenges and lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the pursuit of knowledge and preventive measures against future outbreaks …

New data insights can help prevent pandemics, says health expert
1 year, 11 months ago

New data insights can help prevent pandemics, says health expert

The Hindu  

When COVID-19 pandemic hit, the health systems of most nations were unprepared to deal with the public health crisis or the economic impact of the crisis. We as part of the Pandemic Prevention Initiative, believe that we can use the new data insights at various levels -- clinical, genomic surveillance data or waste water and environment surveillance data, human behaviour …

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics
1 year, 11 months ago

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics

The Quint  

The costly lesson from COVID: why elimination should be the default global strategy for future pandemics Getty Images Imagine it is 2030. An upgraded pandemic response to eliminate at source The process by which the WHO currently decides whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern has drawn criticism for being too slow. Elimination makes sense for other …

Virus control to focus on alleviating symptoms
2 years ago

Virus control to focus on alleviating symptoms

China Daily  

The target for future COVID-19 epidemic control will focus on alleviating the symptoms of patients as scientists reached the consensus two years ago that the novel coronavirus is not going to disappear, a senior Chinese disease prevention expert said. Gao Fu, former director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "We need to control the disease, rather …

A report highlights 11 ways to prepare for future pandemics
2 years, 2 months ago

A report highlights 11 ways to prepare for future pandemics

The Hindu  

A global report released today highlights massive global failures in the response to COVID-19. The report also highlights that the pandemic has reversed progress made towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in many countries further impacting on health and wellbeing. The World Health Assembly should also adopt new global regulations on biosafety to regulate international research programs dealing with …

Fight to end virus pandemic takes place on UN’s sidelines
2 years, 3 months ago

Fight to end virus pandemic takes place on UN’s sidelines

Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS — In four days of fiery speeches over war, climate change and the threat of nuclear weapons, one issue felt like an afterthought during this year’s U.N. General Assembly: the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gathered with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and others to discuss equitable access …

Lancet Commission criticises WHO for acting ‘too slowly’ in controlling COVID-19 pandemic
2 years, 3 months ago

Lancet Commission criticises WHO for acting ‘too slowly’ in controlling COVID-19 pandemic

The Hindu  

The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic published in the journal on September 14, has issued a set of recommendations for future plans and has also castigated the World Health Organization for acting “too cautiously and too slowly” on several important matters. This staggering death toll is both a profound tragedy and a massive global …

Biden’s comments about pandemic widen public health split over how US should respond to Covid-19
2 years, 3 months ago

Biden’s comments about pandemic widen public health split over how US should respond to Covid-19

CNN  

CNN — Even as the US prepares for a potential winter surge of Covid-19, President Biden roamed the cavernous halls of the Detroit Auto Show for an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and, gesturing to the mostly maskless attendees, told the nation, “the pandemic is over.” “We still have a problem with Covid. “I think it’s sort of a term …

What is ‘Disease X’? Why top experts are warning of another pandemic?
2 years, 5 months ago

What is ‘Disease X’? Why top experts are warning of another pandemic?

Live Mint  

‘Disease X’ is causing much a concern in Britain and accordingly, health experts have urged the government to remain prepared for a new pathogen owing to the fact that the country has seen several infections in the recent past. Medical experts have warned, as reported by The Mirror, “We're living through a new pandemic era, and Disease X’ could be …

There will be another pandemic, infectious disease experts say. Here are 6 ways we can prepare for it
2 years, 6 months ago

There will be another pandemic, infectious disease experts say. Here are 6 ways we can prepare for it

CNN  

CNN — More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, we have reached a crossroads. “What we don’t want is to have our children, and perhaps our grandchildren, forget what we’ve been through.” Whether we’re going to apply lessons from the current pandemic remains to be seen, Frieden said, but doing so is key to ending that cycle, so that …

We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From the CDC
2 years, 9 months ago

We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From the CDC

Slate  

America’s favorite pandemic punching bag, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is making many people angry once again. As medical historian Daniel Goldberg of the University of Colorado conceptualizes it, there have long been competing “narrow” and “broad” views of public health’s mandate. “Health policy decisions are always about values even if we don’t always articulate them,” said Cecília …

Impact of Covid on cancer care: Unaddressed problem and the possible solutions
2 years, 10 months ago

Impact of Covid on cancer care: Unaddressed problem and the possible solutions

Hindustan Times  

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on cancer care. A study done in England showed a substantial increase in avoidable cancer-related deaths as a result of the impact of an ongoing pandemic on cancer care. Increased incidence of advanced-stage disease and increased cancer-related mortality have been noticed in CMC Vellore, a leading cancer care centre in South India. …

Next pandemic may be worse, says scientist behind UK's Covid-19 vaccine
3 years ago

Next pandemic may be worse, says scientist behind UK's Covid-19 vaccine

India Today  

One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. In excerpts released before a speech Monday, Professor Sarah Gilbert says the scientific advances made in fighting deadly viruses “must not be lost” because …

A disease surveillance system, for the future
3 years, 3 months ago

A disease surveillance system, for the future

The Hindu  

A defining moment in the history of epidemiology was the removal of the handle of a water pump. The focus under the IDSP was to increase government funding for disease surveillance, strengthen laboratory capacity, train the health workforce and have at least one trained epidemiologist in every district of India. The disease surveillance system and health data recording and reporting …

'Pandemic could have been under control by now, if...': WHO
3 years, 5 months ago

'Pandemic could have been under control by now, if...': WHO

India TV News  

As Japan goes ahead with Olympics 2021, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said that the coronavirus pandemic is a test in which the world is failing. The pandemic could have been under control by now, if vaccines that were "meant to douse the flames of the pandemic" were allocated more equitably, Ghebreyesus said in his keynote …

Former CDC director: We can prevent the next pandemic
3 years, 7 months ago

Former CDC director: We can prevent the next pandemic

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration, when he oversaw responses to the H1N1 influenza, Ebola and Zika epidemics, is President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies and Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations. A herculean public …

A year of coronavirus: Trump is gone. It's time to let go of the partisan responses to the pandemic
3 years, 9 months ago

A year of coronavirus: Trump is gone. It's time to let go of the partisan responses to the pandemic

Salon  

After delaying long enough to cause serious anxiety among prominent public health experts, on Monday the Centers for Disease Control finally released their recommendations for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Many prominent public health experts celebrated the loosening of restrictions on vaccinated people because, as Harvard-based epidemiologist Julia Marcus explained on Twitter, "Vaccines provide a true reduction …

'Premature, unrealistic' to think Covid pandemic will be stopped by end of 2021: WHO
3 years, 9 months ago

'Premature, unrealistic' to think Covid pandemic will be stopped by end of 2021: WHO

India Today  

A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was "premature" and "unrealistic" to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death. WHO's director-general, meanwhile, said it was "regrettable" that younger and healthier adults in some rich countries are …

A year on, mind the gaps in the pandemic response
3 years, 10 months ago

A year on, mind the gaps in the pandemic response

The Hindu  

January 30, 2021 marked one year since India detected its first case of COVID-19 — a student in Kerala who had returned from Wuhan, China. India’s initial response was marked by political commitment at the highest level, with several steps taken early in screening international travellers, restricting inbound traffic from severely affected countries, and preparing quarantine facilities for those testing …

Covid Vaccine, New Normal: Budget 2021 Must Find a Way to Re-Imagine Public Health System
3 years, 10 months ago

Covid Vaccine, New Normal: Budget 2021 Must Find a Way to Re-Imagine Public Health System

News 18  

The Union budget 2021-22 is expected to fund COVID vaccinations and other interventions that will speed up the return to “normal”. However, the budget could also provide a way to strategize for a re-imagined Indian public health system. The Rural Health Statistics for 2019, reveals that only 40% of health care facilities in the rural areas have critical frontline staff …

Coronavirus pandemic severe, but ‘not necessarily the big one’: WHO
3 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus pandemic severe, but ‘not necessarily the big one’: WHO

Hindustan Times  

The novel coronavirus has had a devastating impact around the globe, but the World Health Organization warned Monday that worse pandemics could lie ahead, urging the world to get “serious” about preparedness. “This is a wakeup call,” WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan told reporters at a briefing marking a year since the UN agency first learned of the new virus …

COVID vaccination poses both a challenge and an opportunity
3 years, 11 months ago

COVID vaccination poses both a challenge and an opportunity

The Hindu  

A s the year comes to a close, there is finally some good news on the COVID-19 front. While the two States, Delhi and Kerala, with the highest rates per million of the population missed about 25 infections for every detected case, the proportion of missed cases in States with weaker public health systems such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar …

Children's Day: COVID-19 showed us glaring holes in the public health system that risk the health of our children
4 years, 1 month ago

Children's Day: COVID-19 showed us glaring holes in the public health system that risk the health of our children

Firstpost  

Undernutrition continues to be associated with 50 percent of all under-five deaths and India accounts for third of the world’s stunted children according to the Global Nutrition Report 2018. As Oxfam’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality highlights, India’s spending on public health is the fourth lowest in the world. The result is an impact on healthcare delivery where access to routine …

Recordings reveal WHO’s analysis of pandemic in private
4 years, 1 month ago

Recordings reveal WHO’s analysis of pandemic in private

Associated Press  

GENEVA — As the coronavirus explodes again, the World Health Organization finds itself both under intense pressure to reform and holding out hope that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will reverse a decision by Washington to leave the health agency. Biden has promised to overturn President Donald Trump’s decision in June to cut off funds to WHO and withdraw the U.S. …

Avoid politicization of pandemic response, WHO tells countries
4 years, 1 month ago

Avoid politicization of pandemic response, WHO tells countries

India Today  

The WHO's Emergency Committee on Covid-19 met on 29 October to review the situation and progress made on temporary recommendations. They advised that the pandemic still constituted a public health emergency of international concern, and urged a focus on response efforts based on lessons learned and strong science. The committee expressed appreciation for WHO's leadership and activities throughout the global …

US health official says pandemic clearly can be controlled
4 years, 1 month ago

US health official says pandemic clearly can be controlled

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — A day after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said “we’re not going to control the pandemic,” a top Trump administration health official said Monday that Americans have already proven they can do that through basic safeguards shown to work. “I think we can control the pandemic,” Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said on a …

Covid-19 underscored importance of investing in public health: WHO
4 years, 2 months ago

Covid-19 underscored importance of investing in public health: WHO

Live Mint  

New Delhi: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of investing in public health and primary healthcare, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said, noting that at least a couple of coronavirus vaccines could be available by early next year. “Of the lessons that I have learned over the last nine or ten months, the most important one is the importance …

Opinion: White House’s new Covid-19 strategy is madness
4 years, 2 months ago

Opinion: White House’s new Covid-19 strategy is madness

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Jeffrey D. Sachs is a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. CNN — As if Donald Trump’s irresponsibility was not already a national tragedy, the White House seems now to favor a controversial approach to Covid-19 that threatens to bring nothing less than mass suffering. Yet on Tuesday, senior Trump administration officials …

During Covid-19 Pandemic, Are we Using Govt Data Selectively to Fit Narratives?
4 years, 3 months ago

During Covid-19 Pandemic, Are we Using Govt Data Selectively to Fit Narratives?

News 18  

India is going through the most difficult phase of the pandemic yet, with more than 1000 people dying of COVID-19 every day, according to official numbers alone. Media Stories on the Scale of Disruption Based on data released by the Government of India, media platforms have published many stories on the large scale disruption witnessed in routine health services during …

Experts predicted a coronavirus pandemic years ago. Now it’s playing out before our eyes
4 years, 3 months ago

Experts predicted a coronavirus pandemic years ago. Now it’s playing out before our eyes

CNN  

CNN — In 2017, a team of experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security published a scenario as part of a training exercise that they believed could happen in the not-so-distant future. “It was really important to let people know that we’re still learning.” The need to invest in preparedness Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana, the SPARS Pandemic Scenario project …

World Population Day 2020: India need to focus on quality health care for all in the post-COVID-19 era
4 years, 5 months ago

World Population Day 2020: India need to focus on quality health care for all in the post-COVID-19 era

Firstpost  

With the private health sector failing to provide equitable healthcare, we should consider regulations to ensure it acts in the people’s interests and not in the quest for profits. As we highlight the population issues on World Population Day, it is also important to put India’s healthcare system under the scanner and address the barriers to delivering quality healthcare services …

What the pandemic has taught us | Opinion
4 years, 5 months ago

What the pandemic has taught us | Opinion

Hindustan Times  

The Covid-19 pandemic has taught India several painful lessons. Despite WHO coming in for criticism, India must continue cooperating with it and take advantage of its expertise The second lesson is that India needs a drastic restructuring of its developmental plans which involves allocating at least 3% of the Gross Domestic Product each to health and education. It is also …

Coronavirus more intelligent than humans, says medical journal
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus more intelligent than humans, says medical journal

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Public participation is very important to control Sars-Cov2 virus according to a study of 100 days of Covid-19 in India. The study, published in the ‘Indian Journal of Medical Research’, has found that from March 25 to April 7, there were 331 cases, from April 8 to April 30 there were 1,211 cases and from May 1 to May …

Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19
4 years, 6 months ago

Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19

NPR  

Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19 Two new papers published in the journal Nature say that lockdowns put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus were highly effective, prevented tens of millions of infections and saved millions of lives. "Our estimates show that lockdowns had a really dramatic effect in reducing transmission," says Samir …

Coronavirus | Enforcing lockdown indefinitely too disruptive, say public health experts
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus | Enforcing lockdown indefinitely too disruptive, say public health experts

The Hindu  

A group of public health experts, two of whom are part of a government-constituted advisory committee to contain the pandemic, has said enforcing the lockdown “indefinitely” would be too disruptive and “overtake lives saved due to lockdown mediated slowing of COVID-19 progression.” “Had the migrant persons been allowed to go home at the beginning of the epidemic when the disease …

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