From the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
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18 July 2024
Lessons from UK Covid-19 Inquiry highlight how the UK should prepare for future global disease threats
https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2024/treat-pandemic-fight-counte...
Professor Liam Smeeth [Director, LSHTM] said: “The key lesson from the first UK Covid Inquiry report is that if the UK waits for the next pandemic to emerge it will be too late. The fight against pandemics is like counter-terrorism, we must use similar approaches such as gathering and sharing the best intelligence on global disease threats and joining forces to confront outbreaks before they become pandemics.
“Like terrorists, lethal viruses take no notice of national borders and can strike anywhere at any time. We have to work with global partners to combat this global threat: this means not just improving our planning, surveillance, and ability to respond in the UK, but supporting those on the frontline fighting outbreaks around the world.”
In May Professor Smeeth warned about misinformation attacks undermining negotiations towards a pandemic treaty at the World Health Assembly. The negotiations ended without a treaty although the World Health Organization has promised talks will continue...
“As we found during COVID-19, those spreading misinformation in pandemics only help to spread the virus, weakening our defences and putting the most vulnerable within society at greater risk. We must reject ‘fake news’ and polarisation and join together to protect our shared health or risk repeating the tragedies of COVID-19.”...
LSHTM’s significant contributions to research into COVID-19 and public understanding of the pandemic were recognised with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize...
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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
