Question

COVID-19 could be one of the largest public health incidents in human history. The last time was the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in human history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans. As of October 5, 2020, more than 35.3 million COVID-19 cases have been reported across 188 countries with more than 1.03 million deaths. In the U.S. more than 7 million people have been infected and more than 200,000 have died. As we go into the winter, tens of thousands of new cases are reported everyday nationwide. The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization just said the agency’s “best estimates” indicate roughly 10% of population worldwide may have already been infected by the coronavirus — more than 20 times the number of confirmed cases — and warned of a difficult period ahead.

Several years ago, Billionaire Bill Gates predicted coronavirus-like outbreak. He warned that it takes years to find a cure for a new form of virus outbreak. He gave a warning that the world wasn’t prepared for pandemics, which should “concern us all.” Speaking in 2018, Gates said he believed “the world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war.”

Watch the 2015 Ted Talk by Bill Gates “The next outbreak? We’re not ready”. Do a small research, and discuss the following real global health questions in this forum, Gates said “history has taught us there will be another deadly global pandemic” but why we are still so ill-prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19? How do we exactly "flatten the curve" in the coming cold season? How should we prepare for a possible pandemic in the future?

Please explain

Answer 1

Pandemic means an epidemic occur world wide, it affect wide area. The ill effects of these pandemic is greater. If we can't prevent the pandemic effectively it affect all over the world.

Preparation for pandemic disease is necessary ,the preparation include.

:Surveillance and risk reduction in people at high risk for contact with animals .

:all countries should focus on the surviallance and collection of data regarding health status of people .It will help to identify any outbreaks earlier and prevent the spread of disease as early as possible.

:invest more in public health_poor health status is one of the major cause for getting any infection faster and danger to their life. So improvement of health status help to fight with epidemic ,so government invest more in public health .

:strengthen the health system _we should strengthen the health care system to effectively fight against pandemic .Invest more in increasing diagnostic facility, health care equipments and personal protective equipment.

:make sure that availability of health care personal ,each country more focused on increasing number of health care personal, it is helpful to manage in epidemic outbreaks .

:each country should have a pandemic plan, this plan must be proven by studies.

:immediate action if any pandemics noted_do not waste time, it will lead to severe complication and faster spreads of disease .

:in the case of occurance of pandemic immediately track, trace and isolate the cases to prevent super spread of infection