Sf we want to avoid a new pandemic, similar to that of Covid-19, it is essential that the methods of financing research and development are part of a holistic and intersectoral approach, integrated into the objectives of sustainable development, and closely linked to the fight against climate change. Better coordination between international donors, increased flexibility in funding methods and awareness of the advantages of preventing disease risks versus treating them as a reaction are essential.
What have we learned from the Covid-19 crisis? In just a few weeks, a virus of animal origin has spread across the world, creating a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. Such an event was badly – or barely – anticipated by public decision-makers and its management experienced some hiccups, or even real shortcomings in some countries. Its health, economic and social impacts are currently being assessed.
On May 31, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a tally of over 767 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, including at least 6.9 million reported deaths. Globally through 2024, this pandemic would have caused a cumulative production loss of $13.8 trillion. It will probably take several more years to cross-check the balance sheets and know the quantified consequences of the crisis. “Seize the present, you will depend less on the future. » This motto of Seneca that we want to attach to the pantheon of our memory remains too often a forgotten word.
Resilience of health systems
What we know for certain is that the cost of prevention is at least 100 times lower than the losses generated by a pandemic. Investing in prevention also means contributing to the resilience of health systems; finally, it means reducing the cost of responding to large-scale infectious events. Until recently, pandemic preparedness strategies were designed primarily to prepare for and respond to disease once it spreads through the human population. They did not integrate upstream detection to avoid emergence and contagion. This led to the failure to contain Covid-19 or the Ebola outbreak (2014-2016) in West Africa.
We know that the major emergence factors are linked to human incursions into natural spaces. In addition to their impacts on biodiversity, climate change, and the balance of ecosystems, human activities play a role in the emergence cycle of zoonoses by increasing the probability of contact between humans and wildlife or domestic animals. ‘breeding. Effective prevention of pandemics therefore requires an integrated approach to environmental, animal and human health, the concept of “one health”.
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