Let’s face it. The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting and reshaping the world with profound and dramatic social and economic impact. We are being forced to reorient ourselves with new realities where public health systems are getting overwhelmed and stretched to breaking points, global financial markets are nose-diving, and governments are being forced to take unprecedented measures as the world scrambles to tackle and control the outbreak of what is being termed as one of the ‘deadliest transmissible viruses in recent history’.
Hopefully, the large-scale and multi-pronged strategies for containment and mitigation which are being implemented globally on a war-footing will help to slow and minimise the speed and scale of this pandemic and help mankind overcome this crisis in the long run. But, it is obvious that the world will have to build a strategic framework which will enhance preparedness and response capacities towards zoonotic diseases.
So, in the coming weeks, Express Pharma will examine the most important pillars of this framework and the role of pharma companies in realising this goal. Here is a series of articles covered under the umbrella title of ‘Fortifying defence against zoonoses’:
As an important stakeholder of global health security, it is time for the pharma sector to embrace newer approaches and strategies which are in line with One Health principles to be a worthy warrior in the war against zoonoses
The pharma sector needs to improve its capabilities in data gathering and analysis with the help of AI and computational technologies to identify key gaps, detect patterns and develop countermeasures as a matter of exigency in the battle against zoonosis
Largely opaque and proprietary R&D environments in the life sciences sector need to make way for strategies facilitated by sustainable investment models, open sourcing and multi-lateral partnerships, to deal with a growing threat from infectious/zoonosis diseases
Do share your feedback to the articles and any views/insights with the writer at lakshmipriya.nair@expressindia.com or laxmipriyanair@gmail.com