“We have been warned”—preparing now to prevent the next pandemic | OPEN ACCESS
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‘COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic’ is the aspirational title of the recently released report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.[[1]] This panel, co-chaired by Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was convened in mid-2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the global handling of COVID-19.
The report is predictably grim reading. The panel found weak links at every point in the chain of preparedness and response. Preparation was inconsistent and underfunded, alert systems were too slow and meek, WHO was under-powered, responses exacerbated inequities and global leadership was absent.