Be that as it may, when COVID-19 did happen earlier this year, most of the world’s public health guardians were caught unprepared, even if not unawares. The lack of resilience in both, global economic and healthcare systems has clearly been exposed, regardless of which part of the development spectrum one looks at. Also, it would be safe to say that COVID-19 may be the first of the kind of global threats, but it certainly will not be the last.
Arun Kumbhat, Advisor, ACCESS Health Digital, Gurugram
Where do we go from here?
The guardians of public health must, therefore, scramble to ensure that we are not caught napping the next time around. Much has therefore been said and done, as the crisis continues to evolve. Few candidate vaccines and several new drug candidates - both biological and molecular, dozens of old ones being repurposed - are in various stages of research and approval around the world. We are even risking the integrity of our regulatory mechanisms in a frantic search for a cure and getting it out into the market.
There is then also, the frantic activity in the diagnostics space as we realize that testing, tracking, and isolation are the only strategy we have available until such drugs and vaccines are commercialized.
Additionally, patient-generated data or data from point of care devices can play a vital role in situations where distancing and remote management are essential, to prevent the overwhelm of the health delivery systems.
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Esta historia es de la edición August 2020 de Bio Spectrum.
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