Climate change, urbanization and the destruction of forests increase the risk of pandemics.
A British health expert’s warning that a new pathogen could cause a pandemic as deadly as the Spanish flu – which killed 50 million people – has set off alarm bells in a world that has yet to fully emerge from what it hoped to be a one-time event. a lifelong event — Covid-19
Respected company
Disease These are all diseases with a high mortality rate. The list was first published in 2017.
What is disease X
According to the WHO website, Disease The pathogen can be a virus, bacteria or fungus.
So essentially it serves as a warning that the next pandemic is lurking, and it is very difficult to predict what could cause it. It also helps direct research and investment toward emerging diseases and is intended to aid in the rapid development of vaccines.
“Targeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a rapid and effective response to epidemics and pandemics. Without significant R&D investments prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it would not have been possible to develop safe and effective vaccines in record time,” said a press release from Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme.
What the expert said
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Kate Bingham, who chaired the UK Vaccine Taskforce from May to December 2020, said the new virus could have a similar impact to the devastating Spanish flu of 1919-1920.
‘Let me put it this way: the 1918-1919 flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, twice as many as in the First World War. Today we can expect a similar death toll from one of the many viruses that already exist,” she said.
“In some ways we have been lucky with Covid-19, despite the fact that it caused 20 million or more deaths worldwide. The point is that the vast majority of people infected with the virus managed to recover… Imagine disease late someone will start to feel ill,” Ms Bingham told the Daily Mail.
Strategy
The WHO R&D Blueprint is a global strategy and preparedness plan that enables the rapid activation of research and development activities during epidemics. It aims to accelerate the availability of effective tests, vaccines and medicines that can be used to save lives and prevent large-scale crises, the WHO website said.
An R&D roadmap is drawn up for each disease, followed by target product profiles. The roadmap is then used to guide outbreak response, both in urgent action and in developing ways to improve the global response to future epidemics.
Pandemics increasing?
Although the origins of Covid-19 are not 100% clear, it is believed to be a zoonotic disease that first infected a human in Wuhan, China, via a bat or other animal.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the United States, the likelihood of diseases spreading and escalating into epidemics or pandemics increases. The reasons given for this include globalization and the increased flow of people and goods to all parts of the world.
The other reasons include urbanization and the fact that people in many parts of the world are crowded together and live in overcrowded and unsanitary environments where infectious diseases can thrive. The destruction of forests is also seen as a major danger.
The NCBI cites climate change, increased contact between humans and animals and a shortage of healthcare workers as other reasons. The latter is important because trained health workers can help identify and contain diseases before they spread, but these are usually lacking in places where such epidemics arise.
