Here ’s How the World Can Be Better Prepared to Handle Epidemics

In 2019, there are measles outbreaks in the US and Europe; Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda and several other infectious disease outbreaks in Nigeria, Vietnam and South Africa. Credit: Marc-André Boisvert/IPSBy Ifeanyi NsoforABUJA, Jul 19 2019 (IPS) The 2019 G20 Summit was held recently in Osaka, Japan. The Summit ended with the “G20 Osaka Leaders’ Declaration”, which identifies health as a prerequisite for sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and the leaders committed to various efforts to improve epidemic preparedness.  These efforts are commendable, but the G20, comprised of 19 countries and the European Union with economies that represent more than 80 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), also must do more to lead by example in epidemic preparedness by ensuring they all have a ReadyScore. This is managed by preventepidemics.org, the world’s first website to provide clear and concise country-level data on epidemic preparedness.  It measures a country’s ability to find, stop and prevent health threats. Then, they need to demonstrate they are ready to take steps to improve their score, as needed. This is an important issue because within 36 hours, an infectious disease can travel from a remote village and can be carried to major cities worldwide, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it would mostly likely be a highly inf...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news