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Business News/ Opinion / Views/  The next outbreak isn't far. Start planning now

The next outbreak isn't far. Start planning now

We must digitally empower frontline workers and set up an institution for the surveillance and containment of outbreaks

Photo: Getty Images

The second wave of covid in India has showcased the true might of a full-blown health crisis. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, India recorded over 400,000 daily cases in early May. An expert panel has forecast that a third wave of infections can be expected around October 2021. While we direct our attention to strategically tailor and execute our response over the coming months, there is a need to concentrate on the bigger picture: Averting the next health emergency.

The second wave of covid in India has showcased the true might of a full-blown health crisis. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, India recorded over 400,000 daily cases in early May. An expert panel has forecast that a third wave of infections can be expected around October 2021. While we direct our attention to strategically tailor and execute our response over the coming months, there is a need to concentrate on the bigger picture: Averting the next health emergency.

Realigning health priorities : India’s journey to building its public health system has been flush with challenges, from a sizeable burden of infectious disease outbreaks, given its large population, to the challenge of improving maternal and child outcomes all the way to the last mile. However, the country has had significant success when it comes to orchestrating large-scale public health programmes, notably for leprosy and polio. The common thread in these programmes has been the convergence of the right resources, interventions and partnerships, in addition to establishing of institutions that have stood the test of time.

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Realigning health priorities : India’s journey to building its public health system has been flush with challenges, from a sizeable burden of infectious disease outbreaks, given its large population, to the challenge of improving maternal and child outcomes all the way to the last mile. However, the country has had significant success when it comes to orchestrating large-scale public health programmes, notably for leprosy and polio. The common thread in these programmes has been the convergence of the right resources, interventions and partnerships, in addition to establishing of institutions that have stood the test of time.

These institutions have proven themselves to be the cornerstone of India’s public health system during the ongoing pandemic. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Virology (NIV) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), among others, have united and combined their expertise in the face of this extra- ordinary crisis. This is precisely why a science-based philanthropic entity like The Rockefeller Foundation supported these institutions at the time of their founding.

In the past decade, even though India’s disease profile has indicated a greater burden of lifestyle diseases, the threat of infectious disease outbreaks that are similar to covid has not retreated. This highlights the need to focus attention on designing a sustainable system for the surveillance and containment of infectious disease outbreaks.

Transition to a digital health order: The pandemic has been a watershed that has enabled data-driven analytics and technology to transform the public health order and build resilient systems. The Indian government’s data-enabled applications such as Aarogya Setu and CoWin have been effective in helping decision-makers respond to a highly dynamic situation.

We are at the cusp of an exciting technological revolution and are also well-equipped to design a robust response mechanism. Using artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, we have the competencies to develop systems that can process large volumes of data from varied sources—including clinical, epidemiological and virological inputs—and offer actionable insights to aid the formulation of a quick response.

The role of digitally-enabled public health solutions in ensuring equitable delivery of services is paramount. For technological homogeneity to be realized across public health systems, integration must begin right from the primary healthcare level by embedding a human-centred design for those at the frontlines. Empowering frontline workers such as Ashas and ANMs, who form the backbone of our health system, through digital tools can amplify their positive impact on community health outcomes. The ministry of health and family welfare’s ANM Online Portal (Anmol application), with support from Unicef, has already made strides in enhancing the experience of frontline workers while refining the data collection and overall standards of child and maternal health service provision in India.

Investing in global preparedness: Most countries, including India, were caught unprepared twice: when covid first appeared, and again once variants of Sars-CoV-2 emerged. Throughout this crisis, siloed information, insufficient data-sharing and a lack of global coordination hindered response efforts, allowing the virus and its new strains to spread silently across borders. Our experience with this pandemic has demonstrated the need for increased investment in pandemic preparedness, including a global surveillance network that would act as an early warning system, supporting all countries in their effort to stop emerging threats.

We live in the age of pandemics. Covid represents just one of the more than 200 potential epidemic events that occur each year. Preparing for these events by sharing information and translating data into actionable insight is the key to averting the next emergency and improving health outcomes. Currently, there is no major system or entity that can track and analyse data from different sources and transform it into actionable information. Such an initiative is vital to counter the emerging health threats posed by rapid globalization, urbanization and climate change.

There is already a marked increase in reliance on big data analytic tools to conduct infectious disease outbreak surveillance and visualization around the world. A global, independent Pandemic Prevention Institute would build on these efforts to protect the world from health emergencies and support global health professionals as they communicate to the public. Establishing this type of initiative would complement efforts to accelerate global genomic sequencing capabilities and allow us to better visualize covid’s spread. Further, collecting data on emerging diseases will keep us one step ahead of future threats.

The way forward: Covid has propelled us to think of catalytic ways of re-imagining the paradigms of public health. Our best bet is to recalibrate health priorities, consciously integrate digital technology into public health in an ethical, equitable and human-centred manner, and rethink global solidarity to prepare for and prevent global epidemics.

Deepali Khanna is managing director, Asia Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation

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