“….The critical need for pandemic planning and preparedness and the price the world will pay for not preparing….”
November 1st, 2017“…..A pandemic puts the entire world at risk of a markedly increased occurrence of severe morbidity and mortality.
The collateral damage from a pandemic is twofold, First, the panic and fear surrounding these illnesses and deaths can cause global governance to be severely challenged and people’s behavior and activities unpredictable and counterproductive. It should never surprise us what we can do in the name of fear. And remember the entire world will be in the soup at the same time. The United States and other developed countries will not be sending public health first responders and medical supplies to developing countries in response to the pandemic. We will keep everything at home for our own needs.
Second, the simultaneous occurrence of the pandemic worldwide means that the supply chains for critical products like life-saving drugs and essential medical supplies will be quickly threatened. For example, with our current global just-in-time economy, most drugs and medical products that we need every day are made in China and India; there are no stockpiles of these items anywhere in the world. These drugs and products will quickly disappear or be in very short supply. Because of that, another wave of severe illnesses and deaths will occur among patients with other illnesses like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and immunocompromised conditions and acute events like trauma. ….”