Building healthcare ecosystem around a digital nervous system

In 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was first reported, the origins of the virus were a mystery. Scientists suspected it may have come from bats, but it wasn’t until 2012 when the second major coronavirus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – MERS) outbreak was spreading across borders, that researchers confirmed its provenance. At the time of their discovery, they warned us of the outbreak potential of coronaviruses, urging the global community to learn from our past to help us prepare.

- Arun Kumbhat

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.