Experts Call for Strengthened Pandemic Preparedness, One Health Approach, and Combating Antimicrobial Resistance
核心洞察
Experts at a Hindu webinar emphasized urgent need for better lab infrastructure, healthcare worker training, and data sharing to prepare for the next pandemic.
Contact tracing, community engagement, and dignified patient burials were highlighted as critical lessons from the Ebola (搜索) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The WHO and University of Oxford experts stressed that countries including India must adopt the One Health Approach and strengthen disease surveillance systems.
Global health experts convened at The Hindu's webinar titled "Ebola (搜索): Preparing for the Next Pandemic" to underscore the critical importance of preparedness measures ahead of the next global health emergency. The panel emphasized an urgent need for better laboratory and testing infrastructure, enhanced training and resources for healthcare workers, seamless data sharing across stakeholders, and building trust within communities to combat misinformation.
Parthesarathy Rajendran, executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières (搜索) South Asia, provided a detailed account of the Ebola (搜索) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda. He explained how cases escalated rapidly and why contact tracing remained a cornerstone of controlling infection spread. Rajendran stressed the necessity of working with communities to build education and awareness around infection protocols and prevention measures, as well as ensuring dignified burials for all patients.
Hamsadvani Kuganantham, consultant at the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office and global health research manager at The Global Health Network, University of Oxford, stressed the need for countries, including India, to be part of preparedness protocols. She called for strengthened disease surveillance across the country, for data to be shared to allow for research to be carried out, and highlighted the importance of incorporating the One Health Approach into public health measures.
Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan, senior consultant in infectious diseases at Kauvery Hospitals (搜索), Chennai, explained how zoonotic infections were handled clinically, covering diagnosis, management, treatment, and patient education. She highlighted the need for data analytics from the State government that could help clinicians anticipate an outbreak or prepare for a surge in cases of a particular infection. Balakrishnan also stressed the need for patients to not self-medicate with antibiotics, warning that this practice was leading to the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.