Public-private cooperation must improve to fill gaps in pandemic preparation, response

Source(s): Homeland Preparedness News

By Kim Riley

Pandemic preparedness collaboration among private businesses with the public sector is critically important at this time, say experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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The trend is expected to intensify due to increasing global trade, travel, population density, human displacement, deforestation and climate change, the forum said in a January 2019 white paper.

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Consequently, the World Economic Forum predicts that a cataclysmic pandemic would disrupt health, economies and society, and could cause an average annual economic loss of 0.7 percent of global GDP — or $570 billion.

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Businesses, governments and international organizations should plan now for how essential corporate capabilities will be used during a large-scale pandemic, which could overwhelm public-sector efforts to control it. “But industry assets, if swiftly and appropriately deployed, could help to save lives and reduce economic losses. Companies with operations focused on logistics or social media, for example, could help support governments’ emergency responses, risk communications and medical countermeasures (MCMs) distribution efforts during such an event.

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