I have been working in the field of global health for 20 years and essentially, we had repeatedly predicted that a situation like this would happen and began researching it long ago. So for us, the pandemic was not a surprise.
I wouldn’t put it that way, that would go too far. But everyone working in global health protection had been sounding the alarm about the risks of a possible pandemic for a long time. The Ebola outbreak in 2014/2015 showed how potentially dangerous a pandemic can be. Of course we didn’t precisely predict the exact course this virus would take, but it was clear to my colleagues and me that we would experience a health crisis sooner or later. Because we are in the midst of a global health emergency.
There are plans to assemble an international research team under the leadership of the World Health Organization to answer this question soon. Scientists want to find the precise origin of the zoonosis: one of my colleagues at the Robert Koch Institute will also be part of those efforts.
That is one hypothesis, that zoonoses occur more often in areas where humans and animals live in close proximity to one another. However, and I think this is an extremely important point, COVID-19 demonstrated that there is not a single area of the world that is unaffected. If there is a pathogen in one region, we soon find it in another. That is the main lesson of this pandemic. So the question of whether certain areas of the world are more susceptible than others isn’t relevant. We need to think globally when it comes to health protection.
I try to be careful with these types of statements. I would love to be able to outline the situation, but we are currently still in the midst of the pandemic and, as such, we cannot come to any final conclusions yet.
That’s right. We think a series of factors probably came together to lessen the occurrence of infections. The first factor is the continent’s demographics. Africa has the youngest population in the world, and we know that the risk of progression to severe illness tends to be higher in older individuals. The second factor is that African countries reacted early and took drastic measures, perhaps due to their previous experiences with other health risks. And the continent of Africa is less urban and less globally connected. Both of the latter factors could have slowed the spread of the virus. And the fourth factor could be that people in Africa have certain forms of immunity due to situations like previous parasite infections. But I say all of these things with great caution because we do not yet have enough information about the correlations.
It’s about a different perspective, about the understanding that humans, animals and the environment need to live in harmony on the planet and that their health is closely connected. This isn’t a new concept for us, but it has taken on new importance since the pandemic. In principle, it has already been laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals from 2015 by making them about the “people and planet”. If we ignore and discount this interplay, we will not be able to continue developing in sustainable ways.
It is essential that we do not simply return to normal after the crisis and say: “that was it, the crisis is over”. Instead, we need to live more sustainably and strengthen international health protection. Although this has already begun happening in recent years, we have not taken it far enough.
We need to prepare ourselves more intensely for future cases. That means we need a better early warning system and improved monitoring capacities for humans and animals so we immediately notice when a problem occurs that could escalate into a global health crisis. We will need regular and systematic exchange across borders and between practitioners and scientists in order to do this. So we at the RKI are attempting to network globally, sharing findings and data. As I mentioned, pandemics cannot be handled at the national level.
Health systems really do need to become more resilient so they can quickly react to changes and overcome challenges. However, that doesn’t just apply to pandemics – we also need to invest a lot in dealing with issues like antibiotic resistance, just to name one example. We will need better health sector administration to make that happen. A critical factor is ensuring that we have sufficiently educated and well-trained personnel. I am referring to doctors and nurses, of course, but also people known as public health workers. These are employees in health authorities, in municipalities, etc. All of these positions cost money, so the healthcare sector needs constant investment.
The thinking behind that statement may be a little too black and white. What’s clear is that when a country skimps on its healthcare system for ten years and puts off investments, that cannot be quickly reversed during a crisis. That is one of the more important lessons from the pandemic for me. Health has phenomenal value, and we have to realise what that value is worth.
Conservation and sustainability are definitely very relevant aspects of the reaction we need to have to this crisis. My expertise is in the health sector, which is why I mentioned that aspect first. But, in my opinion, we need to invest much more in prevention in this area as well instead of playing catch-up as events play out. The latter reaction is associated with much higher economic and human costs, as the current situation makes us painfully aware.
My impression is that cooperation is growing between all sorts of authorities and countries. In this respect, the crisis has acted as a catalyst. Now, at the latest, we know that no country can remove itself from the equation. Everyone is affected, and we can only overcome it through cooperation. I hope that this view and this spirit will remain after the crisis is over.
I am cautiously optimistic. It’s probable that there will be some initial issues and tensions – a vaccination campaign at this scale is unprecedented – but ultimately, I hope people’s humanity will win the day.
The thinking behind that statement may be a little too black and white. What’s clear is that when a country skimps on its healthcare system for ten years and puts off investments, that cannot be quickly reversed during a crisis. That is one of the more important lessons from the pandemic for me. Health has phenomenal value, and we have to realise what that value is worth.
Conservation and sustainability are definitely very relevant aspects of the reaction we need to have to this crisis. My expertise is in the health sector, which is why I mentioned that aspect first. But, in my opinion, we need to invest much more in prevention in this area as well instead of playing catch-up as events play out. The latter reaction is associated with much higher economic and human costs, as the current situation makes us painfully aware.
My impression is that cooperation is growing between all sorts of authorities and countries. In this respect, the crisis has acted as a catalyst. Now, at the latest, we know that no country can remove itself from the equation. Everyone is affected, and we can only overcome it through cooperation. I hope that this view and this spirit will remain after the crisis is over.
I am cautiously optimistic. It’s probable that there will be some initial issues and tensions – a vaccination campaign at this scale is unprecedented – but ultimately, I hope people’s humanity will win the day.
The interview was conducted by Friederike Bauer
