Are we prepared for the next pandemic?

Hoping you have found my notes on the presentations that attracted my attention at Davos 2022 beneficial, I would like to go into more detail about a panel that I consider among the highlights of the event. The panel “Preparing for the Next Pandemic” held yesterday was very special in terms of both its topic and its participants.??

First of all, Fast Company CEO Stephanie Mehta, the panel’s moderator, stated that at least one novel pathogen emerges every year and each of these has the potential to become the next pandemic just like COVID-19 did. Mehta remarked that the question of what the public and private sectors should do to secure people’s lives and livelihoods in the next pandemic would be addressed throughout the panel.

Global Fund (GF) Managing Director Peter Sands focused on the responsibilities of the private sector. Having highlighted that the private sector could contribute to the struggle against a new pandemic by offering new tools, technologies, skills, and expertise, Sands emphasized that the public should also benefit from such advantages. In other words, he touched upon the importance of public-private sector collaborations and the innovative investments that could be made in the public sector (i.e., utilizing artificial intelligence in diagnostics and treatment) and, therefore, investing in new talents that could help develop these innovations. He pointed to the necessity of working in collaboration with both the companies that produce or sell healthcare equipment, devices, technologies, and products and all stakeholders in the industry. One of the primary topics to which Sands drew attention was the injustice in the access to healthcare systems. He mentioned that the pandemic caused much more damage to underdeveloped countries, particularly due to poverty.

Another panellist was a globally well-known figure: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation President Bill Gates. Gates, who said, “Investors pursue profits. I am not an investor,” focused primarily on the people aspect of the pandemic. As it is impossible to predict where the next pandemic would begin, which pathogen would cause it, or how it would be treated, he highlighted that the only thing that would make a difference was to act in advance. Stating that we should establish the “global capacity” to overcome the challenges resulting from income injustice and especially the governments should help those in need, Bill Gates remarked that technology would enable many benefits in this area. Among the highlights of his presentation was his statement that we should develop alternative policies and be prepared to implement them rapidly. According to Gates, the cost of such an effort would be nothing compared to the positive outcomes it would enable.

Frank DeSouza, the President and CEO of the global giant genetic variation analysis technologies, Illumina, stated that the pandemic caused a huge innovation pressure on scientists throughout the pandemic. I agree with his view that perhaps the pandemic led to an understanding of the value of innovation in healthcare technologies. Surely, we need to establish an efficient monitoring system to be prepared for a potential pandemic. However, beyond that, deSouza highlighted the need to develop news policies so that the private sector could be of help through proper technologies, new software, and new machine learning (ML) applications in case a new variant breaks out in any country. Here are some of his most striking sentences:

? Fighting pathogens is a matter of defense. Everyone should be able to access these defense funds.

? With the pandemic, we saw both sides of the coin: the human cost and the economic cost. If we fail to establish an environment of global cooperation against these, we will keep going through the same scenarios over and over again.

Helen E. Clark, another panellist, who acted as the Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1999 and 2008, is the Board Chair of the NGO The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, operating under the leadership of the World Health Organization today. As a figure who is as familiar with politics as she is with humanitarian aid efforts, Clark shared highly significant information within this framework. Highlighting that the pandemic still impacts many countries today and that vaccination rates are very low, particularly in poor countries, Helen Clark urged all relevant people and organizations to work together. She suggested that an independent Global Health Council should be established to manage global efforts and ensure that the healthcare system would be prepared for a potential pandemic. She also said that a Global Public Investment Model was needed. Her message was very clear: Better monitoring, enhanced transparency, and a preventive approach.

The final panellist was Mr Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda. Unfortunately, as we all very well know, the COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted Africa. As a first-hand witness of this destruction, Kagame summarized the lesson by saying, “We have seen how wearing it is to be dependent on others for our lives.” Having stated that countries that lack the means to develop their own vaccines should invest more in science and technology and particularly Rwanda, Senegal, and Ghana are working to develop new policies in collaboration with global partners, President Kagame remarked that a good leader should understand the problem and prioritize issues properly and that the foremost priority was to invest in healthcare systems.

It is obvious that the private sector, as well as the public sector, NGOs, and political leaders, have learned significant lessons from the pandemic. I hope that these will enable us to see much healthier, fairer, and more prosperous days…