Two top health experts have called for more to be done to prepare for a potential future global pandemic, claiming there is a sense of “collective global amnesia” nearly five years on from Covid-19.
An editorial published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, co-authored by former director-general of health Sir Ashley Bloomfield and Otago University professor David Murdoch, raises concerns about potential “gaps” in our pandemic preparedness.
Titled “Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response: are we better off now than pre-Covid”, the editorial says New Zealand must prepare for the next pandemic as a national security issue as well as a health issue.
“Despite repeated warnings from experts, numerous initiatives and the direct lived experience of a major pandemic, the level of activity does not match that required to mitigate the widespread health, social and economic impacts of the next (inevitable) pandemic.”
Bloomfield and Murdoch said New Zealand’s pandemic planning must be a “living, adaptive process” that uses evidence, the development of new technology and repeated testing to ensure it works in practice.
By not using lessons learned from Covid-19, the country risks falling into what has been called “the cycle of panic and neglect”, they added.
“The updated national pandemic plan that was recently released is a start, but much more work is required.”
The plan was published by the Ministry of Health in July and the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response would be incorporated.
It currently focuses on respiratory pathogens, but the pair said recent and ongoing outbreaks of mpox highlight a need to prepare for diseases predominantly spread through other routes.
Health Minister Shane Reti said in a statement to 1News that the Government takes pandemic preparedness very seriously and is committed to prevention and response measures.
He added this included reactivating managed isolation and quarantine if there was to be a significant threat at New Zealand’s borders.
