The Commission critically considers the global response to the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing widespread failures of prevention, transparency, rationality, basic public health practice, and operational cooperation and international solidarity, resulting in There were an estimated 17.7 million deaths.
The report also found that most national governments were unprepared and too slow to respond, paid little attention to the most vulnerable groups in their societies, and were hampered by a lack of international cooperation and an epidemic of misinformation.
The Commission used new epidemiological and financial analysis to outline recommendations that will help end the COVID-19 emergency, reduce the impact of future health threats, and achieve long-term sustainable development.
The report also noted that the WHO acted very carefully and very slowly on several important matters: to declare a public health emergency of international concern, to warn about human transmission of the virus, to To support international travel protocols designed to slow the spread. , to support the public use of face masks as protective gear, and to recognize airborne transmission of the virus.
The report also noted that public policies did not properly address the highly disproportionate effects of the pandemic.
Heavy burden groups include essential workers, who are already disproportionately concentrated in more vulnerable minority and low-income communities; Children; Women who face loss of employment, security and income, which are exacerbated by the adverse consequences of school closures; people living in collective environments such as prisons or care homes, especially for older populations; people living with chronic conditions and disabilities; People of the same place, people of the same area; migrant, refugee and displaced populations; people without access to quality and affordable health care; And those who do face the burden of longer COVID, the report shows.
Significant investments also include better technology and knowledge transfer for health goods and better international health financing for resource-limited countries and regions.
The commission is the result of two years of work by 28 of the world’s leading experts in public policy, international governance, epidemiology, vaccinology, economics, international finance, sustainability and mental health, and consults with over 100 other contributors to 11 global works. Is. forces.
“The human toll in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic is a profound tragedy and a massive social failure on many levels,” said Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University, US.
“We must face hard truths – too many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency; too many have resisted basic public health precautions, which are often fueled by misinformation; and Too many nations have failed to promote global cooperation to control the pandemic,” Sachs said.
To end the pandemic, urgent collective action must be taken to promote public health and sustainable development, the report said.
It also underscores the need to address global health inequalities, protect the world from future pandemics, identify the origins of this pandemic, and build resilience for communities around the world.
“We have the scientific capabilities and economic resources to do so, but a resilient and sustainable recovery depends on strong multilateral cooperation, financing, biosecurity and international solidarity with the most vulnerable countries and peoples,” Sachs said.
The report said the costly delay in declaring a “public health emergency of international concern” by the WHO and recognizing airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 resulted in the failure of national governments to cooperate and coordinate on travel protocols, testing strategies, commodity supplies happened with chain, data reporting systems and other important international policies to suppress the pandemic.
It said the lack of cooperation between governments to finance and distribute key health goods, including vaccines, personal protective equipment and resources for vaccine development and production, in low-income countries has paid a heavy price.
The report said these disparities were exacerbated by widespread misinformation campaigns on social media, low social trust and failure to encourage behavior change, and significant public opposition to routine public health measures seen in many countries. was given. ,
(with inputs from PTI)
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