Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Due to previous regional and global outbreaks such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and H1N1 in 2009, the South-East Asia Region (SEAR) had been working on strengthening their public health preparedness and risk management based on the pandemic influenza preparedness plan (PIPP) to respond to future emergencies arising from infectious diseases. As such, the region was able to immediately deploy massive efforts to respond to the new Covid-19 health crisis and minimise its impact on people’s lives.
The region was an early adopter of the vaccines, which might have helped to reduce the severity of the disease and limited the number of deaths. In January 2021, Indonesia became the first Member State to carry out vaccinations and, by April 2021, all Member States, except the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), had initiated vaccination campaigns.
Multiple factors
The success of the vaccination drive was the outcome of multiple factors: individual countries’ consistent endeavours in reducing morbidity, mortality, and related health complications; India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ that ensured timely and essential vaccines, and cold-chain supplies to the South Asian countries; regional and global cooperation in providing access to and equitable distribution of vaccines through the COVAX facility, the vaccine pillar of ACT Accelerator; high-level political commitment; Government donations of vaccines, multi-sectoral collaborations at the local level and bilateral agreements.
While the Covid-19 transition to an “established and ongoing health issue” signals a return to “normal” lives, uncertainties remain as globally people are still being infected and reinfected with the virus, and possibilities exist of the emergence of new variants in future.
It would be complacent to imagine that the Covid-19 pandemic was a unique, one-of-a-kind event that the world has overcome. It is, therefore, time to take stock and strengthen preparedness for future emergencies. We must gather the collective experiences of all Member States of the region and document the lessons learned and challenges faced while responding to the public health threat.
Systemic approaches
This document aims to provide various systemic approaches that can be taken regionally or locally to successfully roll out vaccination programmes in an equitable manner for future vaccine-preventable health emergencies. These lessons can also help to strengthen public health security, improve readiness and resilience, and integrate emergency health response in national plans and policies.
The pandemic has clearly demonstrated that a health crisis can be a black swan, upending systems and stability in the world. It is imperative that we remain prepared for any such possibility in future.
Though many Member States in the tegion were able to leverage their country-specific PIPPs to respond to the public health crisis, the pandemic highlighted the fact that even this level of preparedness was not enough.
