A Professor of Virology and Director of the Institute of Virology, Charite’s Berlin, Dr Christian Drosten, has called on stakeholders in the health sector to reflect on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 in order to prepared adequately towards future pandemics.
According to him, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought in its wake a number of challenges that confronted healthcare delivery worldwide as such, it was important for countries to draw on some of measures that were adopted during the period to inform such future occurrences.
Dr Drosten made the call when he delivered a lecture at Kingfisher Science Salon Series, organised by the German Embassy in Accra last Wednesday.
This year’s lecture was on the topic: ‘Corona quo vadis State of Play and Challenges Ahead’ and was attended by major stakeholders in the health sector.
He said as the world reflected on the lessons learned, a number of issues including; whether the next pandemic would be like COVID-19 or what is the goal of non-pharmaceutical interventions would be like?
In addition, he indicated that it was important to consider which parameters would determine the effectiveness of contact restriction policies, how to express scientific community consensus in policy advice and the issue of Global South vaccine equity versus surveillance equity and health systems.
Again, Dr Drosten observed that technology has impacted health systems worldwide, with non-industrialised countries experiencing a more rapid rate of change.
He believes that the full effects of COVID-19 on health systems would not be fully understood for about a decade.
He noted, however, that a significant leap in technological advancements in the current decade compared to the previous one, likely triggered by the pandemic and related programmes.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Daniel Krull, on his part expressed gratitude for the opportunity to host a lecture, highlighting the success of the “Kingfisher Science Saloon” series, which began a year and a half ago.
He highlighted the key lessons from Germany’s experience with COVID-19: early implementation of measures and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), significantly impacted the outcome.
By doing so, “Germany potentially saved around 60,000 lives, as illustrated by a comparison with the UK’s response,” he mentioned.
Mr Krull, however, highlighted the complexity and controversy surrounding the effectiveness of such measures, indicating that the details can be nuanced and multifaceted.
He further emphasised that there is no universal solution, and effective strategies depend on specific country contexts.
The value of learning from COVID-19 experiences, he stated, noting that different governments have responded uniquely to the pandemic.
The Ambassador praised Ghana’s effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that, “the country’s response was relatively successful compared to other African nations.”
He, therefore, encouraged Ghana to leverage this confidence to tackle future challenges.
By acknowledging Ghana’s achievements, Krull emphasised the importance of building on this momentum to address future challenges and achieve sustainable development.
The series’ inaugural speakers were Professor Peter Janssen and Professor Peter Wasserscheidt, renowned experts in green hydrogen
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
