Thread by @DrTomFrieden

The Last Pandemic?

The Covid pandemic has killed 3+ million people and driven 115M people into extreme poverty. It will cost the world $22 trillion by 2025. And it didn't have to happen.

A new report could be pivotal in efforts to prevent the next pandemic. 1/

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (@TheIndPanel) was created last year by @WHO to ensure the world is better able to address health threats such as Covid. They released a sweeping new report. nyti.ms/2RS1TTV 2/

Because the recommendations detailed in the report are so important, I’m going to highlight some of them in the hope that the story of Covid isn’t repeated. Read the report here: bit.ly/3w6nEyr 3/

This is a succinct, chilling summary of the pandemic’s impact. 4/

Numbers don’t tell the full story. We won’t ever be able to account for the full impact of Covid and how the pandemic has disrupted and derailed people’s lives. 5/

Infectious diseases tend to be guided missiles aimed at the poor and disenfranchised. True to form, Covid has been a pandemic of inequality, injustice, and inequity. 6/

The pandemic is far from over. @TheIndPanel provides an excellent list to address Covid now. That starts with core public health interventions including masks, distancing, avoiding super spreader events, sharing vaccines/vaccine technology & setting focused goals at WHO level. 7/

February 2020 may not have been the cruelest month, but it was decisive in the world’s indecision. Countries that organized, followed science, and acted quickly did much better. 8/

The underlying causes of our lack of preparedness haven’t been addressed. Past reports and recommendations haven’t been heeded. We must break the deadly cycle of panic and neglect. 9/

These are five areas for urgent improvement. 10/

The report offers some details for how to improve leadership. A Global Health Threats Council has potential—parallel to, but learning lessons from UN Security Council. A Framework Convention is less risky than a Treaty, but either could derail progress unless handled well. 11/

Good details on ESSENTIAL reforms needed at WHO. Every one of these is important. The 7-year terms for the DG and RDs could be transformational, and the HR point is crucial, although success addressing this will be complex—the devil is in the details. 12/

WHO country offices must be strengthened for WHO to be effective in countries. Financial independence would be great, but may be difficult to achieve. 13/

It’s crucial that we invest in preparedness now. Our team at @ResolveTSL has called for a global 7-1-7 target, in line with these recommendations. bit.ly/3fcz2So 14/

We also urgently need better surveillance. That means the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data, with the dissemination of the information to those who need to know. It must also lead to action. 15/

Surveillance requires healthcare and public health systems that people trust, functioning lab networks, trained epidemiologists, clinicians connected with public health, analytic capacity, the ability to collect and analyze info from multiple sources, and more. It’s crucial. 16/

It will require years of hard work for us to achieve effective surveillance. Digital tools can help, but lack of digital tools is very far from being the main barrier to improved surveillance, which must be real-time, sensitive, accurate, and actionable. 17/

Making a safer world is not only about people and systems, but also about stuff: Diagnostics, treatments, and, of course, vaccines. We and others have been calling for this for months. Now means now. politi.co/3w6kVFd 18/

All of that requires money. How would a global pandemic facility be created? Where would it sit? Who would fund it? @TheIndPanel is hoping the G20 will take the lead and move this forward next week. 19/

Every country in the world needs to up its preparedness game. Even Singapore, which has done superbly at Covid control, was caught unaware by explosive spread of Covid among their large and poorly-served immigrant worker community. bbc.in/3uPZJmw 20/

Just as MLK Jr. said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, ill-health anywhere is a threat to health everywhere. 21/

At the end of the report, there’s a good multi-page timeline with all 28 recommendations (plus 6 for the current pandemic), including who’s responsible and when it should be done by. Here’s the link to the report again: bit.ly/3w6nEyr 22/

It’s up to the world to act. But “the world” isn’t one person or org. Every country has a responsibility. WHO has a responsibility. The G20 could be important. The IMF, Global Fund, World Bank and other financial institutions, WTO and others all have important roles to play. 23/

The recommendations in the @TheIndPanel report are all important, not to be cherry-picked. Yes, similar recommendations have been made before. What must be different now? We must act, or the next pandemic could be even more devastating. 24/end