THE world is still “grossly under-prepared” for outbreaks of infectious diseases such as the deadly Ebola and Zika viruses, scientists have warned.
A review of the recent Ebola crisis in West Africa found better readiness and a faster, more co-ordinated response could have prevented most of the 11,000 deaths.
It would also have avoided the broader economic, social and health crises that followed.
Such epidemics are likely to become more frequent in the coming decades, say international experts.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, they said “not nearly enough has been done.”
In August 2014 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The world scrambled to respond and In the aftermath, a number of reports were published reviewing what went wrong and how experts and countries should better manage infectious disease outbreaks.
But the main priorities emerging from the reports and the extent to which action has been taken on the proposed reforms is unclear.
So Dr Suerie Moon and colleagues analysed seven major post-Ebola reports and laid out the key problems and recommendations they highlighted.
They also assessed progress to date and identified the biggest gaps between recommendations and action in each area of reform.
Investments in country capacity building have been inadequate and difficult to track, arrangements for fair and timely sharing of patient samples remain weak and reform efforts at WHO have focused on operational issues.
These have neglected to address deeper institutional shortcomings, Dr Moon said.
As the executive board gathers this week to shortlist candidates in the running to for the WHO director-general election, the researchers point out “spearheading institutional reforms is likely to fall to the next director general”.
Dr Moon, of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, said: “We found remarkable consensus on what went wrong with the Ebola response and what we need to do to address the deficiencies. “Yet not nearly enough has been done.“Ebola, and more recently Zika and yellow fever, have shown we do not yet have a reliable or robust global system for preventing, detecting, and responding to disease outbreaks. We will not be ready for the next outbreak without deeper and more comprehensive change.”
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