A respected World Health Organization chief scientist has started discussing how the world should prepare for another pandemic. As such, Sir Jeremy Farrar believes that the chances of another pandemic happening were "inevitable."
Possibility of a COVID-Like Pandemic
According to Mail Online, WHO chief scientist Jeremy Farrar says the world should prepare for another pandemic. The expert talks about how Britain is "woefully unprepared" should such an event happen again.
Sir Jeremy said that the future could include "more complex" pandemics more frequently. He warns that the world should prepare and how lessons "must be learned."
Sir Jeremy is part of No10's advisory panel as a member of SAGE. He gave statements to the Covid Inquiry regarding the reality of the changing times. Wellcome reports how Sir Jeremy Farrar joined WHO in February 2023 as Chief Scientist.
Mail Online highlights how the chief scientist also called the recent times a "pandemic age" as he's now working for WHO. Sir Jeremy also commented on the "complacency" of the government regarding Covid preparation.
Tomorrow's Inevitable Epidemics
Sir Jeremy commented on future "inevitable epidemics," urging that necessary scientific infrastructure should be retained. The chief scientist warns that the UK won't be prepared to deal with the issues if this isn't done.
The chief scientist also commented on how there was a "degree of complacency" regarding pandemic planning. His criticisms run way back to the wake of another epidemic that happened in 2009.
This came after the 2009 swine flu epidemic, which wasn't as bad as expected, which he points leads to the current degree of complacency. Sir Jeremy maintains that despite the future expected to have more frequent and challenging pandemics, the government still struggles to deal with current problems.
Some important measures that Sir Jeremy says should be put in place include critical infrastructure, space, resilience, and surge capacity. By properly implementing these measures, the chief scientist believes they could deal with future inevitable disruptions.
Complacency in Dealing with Pandemics
Sir Jeremy comments that the world, including the UK, remains underprepared to deal with future pandemics. He emphasizes the complacency of protective measures despite the last 20 years and their warning signs.
The chief scientist urged that there should be proper preparation for those specific major disruptive events. Mail Online reports that Sir Jeremy hopes the world will never be in the same situation again.
Previously, the chief scientist also authored the book called "Spike: The Virus v The People." As such, he included in his evidence how he reached out to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Science.org reports how Sir Jeremy Farrar said COVID is expected to be with humanity forever.
These included accounts from those who've lost lives, have still-affected families, and healthcare workers. Sir Jeremy also questioned Hugo Keith KC over UK's lab infrastructure, saying things needed to be done for the country to prepare for future crises.
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