The Red Cross warns countries are still “not prepared” for the next pandemic. (Represent)
Geneva:
The Red Cross warned on Monday that all countries remained “dangerously unprepared” for the next pandemic, saying future health crises could also collide with catastrophic events. climate-related disasters are increasingly likely.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that despite three “devastating” years of the Covid-19 pandemic, robust preparedness systems remained “severely lacking”.
The world’s largest humanitarian network says building trust, equity and local action networks is crucial to getting ready for the next crisis.
“All countries are still dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks,” the IFRC said, concluding that governments are no more prepared now than in 2019.
It said countries needed to prepare for “many dangers, not just one”, saying that societies only become truly resilient through planning for different types of disasters, as they may occur concurrently.
The IFRC has cited an increase in climate-related disasters and disease outbreaks this century, of which Covid-19 is just one of them.
It said extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity, “and our ability to simply respond to them is limited”.
The IFRC has issued two reports offering recommendations on mitigating future tragedies at the scale of Covid-19, on the third anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the virus a pandemic. an international public health emergency.
“The Covid-19 pandemic will serve as a wake-up call for the global community to prepare for the next health crisis,” IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said.
“The next pandemic could be imminent; if the Covid-19 experience doesn’t accelerate our preparations, what will?”
The report said the major dangers harming the most vulnerable and exposing the poorest are “self-defeating”, as a disease can return in the form of more dangerous.
Breaking trust
The IFRC said that if people trust safety messages, they will be more willing to comply with public health measures and accept vaccinations.
But the organization says crisis responders “can’t wait until the next time to build trust,” urging consistent cultivation over time.
The IFRC said that if trust is fragile, public health will become political and personal – something that undermines the Covid response.
It also said the coronavirus pandemic has “proliferated and exacerbated inequality, with poor sanitation, overcrowding, lack of access to health and social services, and Malnutrition promotes disease development.
“The world must address the gaps in health and socioeconomic inequality before the next crisis,” it recommends.
The organization also said local communities should be leveraged to do life-saving work, as that is where the pandemic begins and ends.
The IFRC calls for the development of pandemic response products that are cheaper, easier to store and manage.
By 2025, it said countries should increase domestic health financing to one percent of gross domestic product and global health financing by at least $15 billion annually.
The IFRC says its network has reached more than 1.1 billion people over the past three years to help keep them safe during the Covid pandemic.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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