COVID-19: Public Health Is a Question of National Security
Three critical points in a document of the Council of Foreign Relations:
Transparency and Knowledge Sharing
The primary flaw in the COVID-19 response has been the opacity in knowledge sharing. China is the first country to claim to have successfully flattened the curve. Research suggests that China’s nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as travel bans, social distancing, isolation, and contact tracing, wereeffective in containing the outbreak.
Strengthening Global Mechanisms
During health crises, the world looks to the primary global health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), for guidance. Surprisingly, the WHO’s response to COVID-19 was lacking. Although the body had once warned that caution and vigilance were necessary against any future Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like disease, it ignored this advice in late 2019 when managing the mysterious pneumonia in Wuhan, China. For months, it failed to recommend travel restrictions or bans.
Capacity Building
COVID-19 has rendered some of the better health systems in the world inoperable. A country’s first line of defense is the capability of its health system to detect and control contagious diseases. Underinvestment in preparedness and reliance on treatment rather than a preemptive response has proven costly in terms of lives and dollarspportunity to tackle the pandemic was missed, raising questions about the WHO’s credibility.
Juan Correa
