Leadership, Global Governance Questions Must Be Answered For True Pandemic Preparedness

Washington Post: The next epidemic
Michael Gerson, opinion writer

“…The first and foundational layer of pandemic preparedness is the disease surveillance system in developing countries. … Many developing countries lack even the minimal capability to identify outbreaks before they become epidemics. Filling those gaps is one of the goals of President Obama’s essential Global Health Security Agenda, designed to strengthen surveillance capacity in 30 countries containing four billion people. The second layer of preparedness is emergency response — the ability, on a moment’s notice, to provide mass logistics and command-and-control in the midst of chaos. … All of this raises questions of leadership and global governance. If the worst happens, would anyone be in charge? The day before the next epidemic, this will seem a secondary matter. The day after, there will be no other issue” (3/26).

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