The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how many countries around the world were ill-prepared for the seismic socio-economic consequences of such a global health crisis. But lessons have been learned, and there are a number of ways India can make sure it is well-prepared for the next pandemic, which many scientists say is inevitable as climate change continues to cause havoc and zoonotic diseases are finding their way to humans from animals.
"We cannot kick this can down the road," said the head of the World Health Organization , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in an address to the agency’s member states in May 2023, stating that the next pandemic could ”come knocking” at any moment."If we do not make the changes that must be made, then who will? And if we do not make them now, then when?" he added. This statement not only underlines the deep feelings of lament and regret within political circles around the globe at how the pandemic panned out, the suffocating economic consequences of global lockdowns, and the millions of innocent people who lost their lives, but also the inadequacy of pandemic funding and preparedness in 2019-2020. If the world was better prepared, many lives could have been saved. India has lost, to date, 533,510 people to COVID-19. A multilateral, multifaceted approach to pandemic defence could prevent such a large loss of life next time.
Infrastructure development
The global health crisis laid bare the vulnerability of healthcare systems worldwide, affecting both affluent nations and those with lower and middle incomes alike. In India, the healthcare system faced significant strain, stemming from insufficient public health infrastructure, a scarcity of hospital beds, shortages of critical emergency equipment like ventilators and oxygen, and constraints in data systems necessary for informed decision-making.
Indeed, as a global health community, better preparing for the pandemic around the corner requires more training, more vaccine research, investment in health workers’ ability to treat and isolate infectious diseases, better means of detection and containment, and the development of more robust PPE supply chains.“There’s been a huge amount of ecosystem building that’s happened in terms of infrastructure,” said Neeraj Jain, Country Director of Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) India, an international, nonprofit global health organization based in Seattle. “The challenge will be to keep this infrastructure together till the next pandemic.”
This includes, for example, India’s successful vaccination drive, which, according to Jain, “has really broken the rural-urban divide.” Thanks to a real information push from the government, not easy in a country of 1.4 billion people in which millions live under the poverty line, more deaths were certainly avoided. Consequently, and in keeping with international trends (World Bank Pandemic Fund, for example), India has taken initiatives to strengthen capacities and national and regional level in terms of pandemic response preparedness, enabling it, hopefully, to better manage future health crises and avoid widespread deaths.
These include the rollout of the Aarogya Setu app during the COVID-19 pandemic, which facilitates community involvement in disease monitoring. Moreover, efforts such as the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), the One Health Consortium, which will identify hotspots for endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases to contain their spread early on, and the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) represent proactive measures to enhance preparedness for health crises. PM-ABHIM, a direct response to the inadequacy of India’s institutional response, concentrates on reinforcing healthcare systems by augmenting the capabilities of the National Centre for Disease Control, establishing health and wellness centres, and expanding the laboratory network.
The One Health Consortium seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaborations encompassing animal, human, and environmental health. Additionally, India has committed to WHO's 'Triple Billion targets by 2023,' aiming to extend universal health coverage to one billion more people globally while safeguarding them possible health emergencies.
Day-to-day and industrial innovations
In a macro sense, India’s certainly learned from the shock of 2019-2022, and has taken measures to adjust its socio-economic ecosystem accordingly, at both national and regional levels. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly highlighted the country’s strengths in biopharma and its ability to manufacture key pandemic response products (test kits, masks, vaccines etc). But there are measures to be taken across many sectors that can buttress society against the more ominous pathogens that could arrive at any moment. Business, industry and SMEs can also play their part by investing in preventative innovations that help reinforce the national shield.
Innovations like pulsed UV disinfection, which harnesses the potent ultraviolet spectrum, particularly UV-C. This high-intensity light emits energy that permeates bacteria cell walls. By dismantling nucleic acids and disturbing DNA, UV-C effectively eradicates or renders microorganisms inert, thwarting their ability to multiply. A solution designed to protect surfaces from pathogen spread. Macerators for disposing of human waste, air sterilisers, fogging machines and hand/surface sanitisers are all innovations that will reinforce country-wide institutional measures in a micro sense.
But using UV light for objects on a large scale can be impractical. China used UV light and high temperature treatments to disinfect, isolate and provide extra protection for their banknotes, for example. This process involved sealing and storing the cash for up to 14 days afterwards. As many central banks such as the Reserve Bank of India know, more practical solutions do exist, however. Cash can be protected by solutions like Bioguard, developed by French company Oberthur Fiduciaire. The solution’s anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties have made it popular with many central banks and banknote printing firms, not least due to its low cost and proven effectiveness against COVID-19. The solution can be easily applied to notes as a varnish post-print, and does not require such an arduous process as cash storing.
Bioguard’s was in fact developed in response to the H5N1 virus, so its efficiency in protecting against coronavirus was a pleasant surprise. Etienne Couëlle, Managing Director of Oberthur Fiduciaire, underlines why such a solution is so important: “Hopefully this pandemic is behind us. However, every year, we get influenza and cough spikes, while infectious bacteria are permanently present. We all know that a new pandemic will come at some point. So let us be prepared for the next one. We have time to do so if we don’t delay action too much.”
In India itself, antiviral solutions have been developed for years across many sectors. We could refer to, for example, Nyokas, an Indian R&D company working in the field of cutting-edge fashion technology. The firm has developed premium athletic wear and safety wear products for specific sectors like defence. During the pandemic, the firm stepped up and developed a series of antiviral masks and lifestyle clothing that used innovative antiviral and odour cancelling technologies.
Mankind has an extraordinary capacity for innovation and resilience, and for India to pull through the next pandemic, it would be wise to explore all avenues in order to maximise the population’s chances of protection and survival.
