Pandemics! Are We Ready?

Easrat Jahan Esha, Planetary Health Campus Ambassador
Intern Doctor ( Doctor of Veterinary Medicine)
Chattogram Veterinary and Animal sciences University, Bangladesh

A pandemic is a type of epidemic, an outbreak of a disease that occurs in an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Today a large scale of economic and trade interactions creates an open channel among different countries which generates more ways for pandemics to spread.

Humanity as a whole has never been more well equipped, or had better technology. However, the bigger question is whether all these technologies are capable of beating the pandemic. The recent COVID-19 incident shows us that even as a developed country, epidemics can still reach us. As time goes on microorganisms also will inevitably infiltrate human populations, and mutations among them create challenges for our healthcare society.

So what can we do? If we want to stop the spread of zoonotic diseases, we need to be extra careful. Wild animal trafficking and using wild animals as a source of food must be prevented. We need to be more cautious — there is a saying that “ prevention is better than a cure”. To combat the spread of infectious diseases we need to address pathways of infection. It can’t be done by a single person or by a single country. The whole world must be united against pandemics. How can it be done? A wide range of health policies should be introduced. Trade policy should be revised. The established health rules from WHO, OIE should be maintained strictly.

The tension between human civilization and diseases can’t be avoided. The more modernized a society is, the more powerful the organisms are. We need to stand united to fight against this issue. We must act together to achieve one health now if we want to be ready to face the next pandemic.