Disease X: New battle plan to tackle future outbreaks
By Audrey Tan
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Under the new Prepare programme, the Republic will work closely with other researchers in the region to keep a close watch on pathogens circulating in animal populations. If such viruses jump into humans, they could cause a new, unknown disease and seed an outbreak.
The idea of the programme is also to marshal the forces of scientists and transform discoveries into solutions - from pinpointing the source of an outbreak to developing the best drugs for patients.
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Prof Tan said the new programme is meant to be translational in nature - which means applying scientific findings to real-world situations - although funding will still be available for basic research. "What this new programme would do would be to build the enablers in terms of data, tissue, pathogen materials, as well as the networks that are working around infectious diseases or public health interests," he said.
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Prof Tan pointed out that the research community in Singapore has contributed significantly to the public health response to Covid-19. However, the pandemic had also yielded learning points, which is what the new research programme is designed to take in.
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