The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 3.3 million people worldwide, was not an unavoidable disaster. According to a report titled “Covid-19: Make it the Last Pandemic” by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR), a combination of poor decisions, desperate strategic choices, and a fragmented system resulted in an unprecedented human crisis. The report, commissioned by member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2020, suggests that the catastrophic scale of the pandemic could have been avoided.
Reasons Behind the Escalation of the Pandemic
According to the IPPPR report, the main causes of the pandemic’s global impact were bad decisions, institutional failure, a lack of urgency, and delayed response.
A string of poor choices, reluctance to address inequalities, and an uncoordinated system permitted the pandemic to metamorphose into a widespread human catastrophe. Furthermore, institutions tasked with safeguarding populations and enforcing health interventions failed, while leaders denying the science behind the pandemic eroded public trust.
The panel also observed that the threat of a pandemic had been undervalued, leaving countries unprepared. Responses to the initial outbreak traced back to Wuhan in December 2019 lacked urgency, with February 2020 termed as a “lost month” when countries failed to act despite the red flags. The first cases of Covid-19 were accompanied by a mix of rapid, early measures, but also by delay, hesitation, and denial; WHO could have declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), its highest level of alarm, in January 2020.
Recommendations to Rectify the Situation
The Independent Panel suggested several steps to rectify the dire situation. They recommended that rich countries, where vaccination campaigns are well underway, should provide the 92 poorest territories in the Covax scheme with at least one billion vaccine doses by September 2021, and more than two billion by mid-2022.
Furthermore, it was suggested that the G7 nations should pay 60% of the $19 billion required to fund vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics via the WHO’s access to Covid Tools Accelerator programme in 2021. The report called on the G20 nations and others to contribute the remaining funds.
Efforts Toward Technological Collaboration
The report also underscored the role of international organizations in facilitating technological collaboration. For example, WHO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) should encourage vaccine-producing countries and manufacturers to agree to voluntary licensing and technology transfers for Covid-19 vaccines. If such actions aren’t taken within three months, a waiver of intellectual property rights should be enforced immediately.
Suggestions to Prevent Future Pandemics
In order to prevent future health crises of this scale, the panel proposed the establishment of a Global Health Threats Council composed of world leaders and a pandemic convention. They recommended that the G20 create an International Pandemic Financing Facility, capable of funding preparedness plans to the tune of $5-10 billion annually, while having $50 to $100 billion ready for immediate deployment in a crisis.
In addition, the IPPPR report proposed a complete overhaul of WHO to give it greater control over its funding and more power for its leadership. The report emphasized the need for a quicker alert system and the authority for WHO to send expert missions to affected countries without waiting for permission.
About the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
The IPPPR was established in 2020 by the WHO Director-General, as per the World Health Assembly resolution 73.1. This resolution reinforced the commitment to better prepare for health emergencies and comply with the International Health Regulations. The panel, based in Geneva, aims to provide an evidence-based path for the future, learning from the lessons of the present and past. It is dedicated to ensuring countries and global institutions, specifically WHO, effectively tackle health threats.
