WHO report draws lessons from COVID-19 pandemic

A report recently published by an independent panel of experts who reviewed the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has pinpointed equitable and widespread distribution of vaccines, along with the consistent rollout of regular disease control measures, as the linchpin to ending the pandemic.

Preventing the next pandemic will entail broad reforms of emergency response systems on the national and international levels, according to the main report issued on May 12 by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which was convened by the World Health Organization in July and comprised 13 international experts.

The report called for empowering the WHO, strengthening surveillance networks and upgrading platforms tasked to allocate essential medical supplies.