The risk of selective investment in downstream pandemic planning

Authors

  • Raina MacIntyre University of New South Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.36

Keywords:

pandemics, epidemics, Ebola, DURC, smallpox, preparedness, disaster

Abstract

There has been an increase in emerging infections and serious epidemics in recent years. Investment has been in downstream capabilities in diagnostics, drugs and vaccines, but epidemic prevention and mitigation can be enhanced further by investment in upstream prevention and mitigation. If drugs and vaccines are available, they are important tools for epidemic control but come into play when an epidemic is established. Equally important are the ability to prevent epidemics altogether, to identify epidemics early, to ensure excellent triage and hospital infection control, surge capacity of space, as well as resources and personnel within health systems. Failures in any of these could cause health system failure and blow out of epidemics. Recognising the genesis of epidemics and all points where prevention or mitigation can be achieved is critical.

Author Biography

Raina MacIntyre, University of New South Wales

Professor Raina MacIntyre is Professor of Global Biosecurity at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney. As Head of the Biosecurity Program, she leads research in epidemiology, vaccinology, bioterrorism prevention, mathematical modelling, public health and clinical trials in infectious diseases. Her research includes personal protective equipment, vaccinology, epidemics of emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism prevention. She is an expert in influenza epidemiology, adult vaccination, bioterrorism and rapid epidemic intelligence and has led the largest body of research internationally on face masks and respirators in health care workers. She has a 20 year track record in public health control of infectious diseases including vaccinology, surveillance and program design. She has over 350 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Her research is underpinned by extensive field outbreak investigation experience. She is a graduate of the Australian Field Epidemiology Training program and has extensive experience in shoe-leather epidemiology of infectious diseases outbreaks. Her in-depth understanding of the science of outbreak investigation draws from this experience combined with her clinical training as a specialist physician and her academic training through a Masters and PhD in Epidemiology. Her passion for field epidemiology led her to co-found the ARM network for Australian field outbreak response. She also has an interest in the ethics of medicine, and specifically in dual-use research of concern in the fields of synthetic biology and genetic engineering, and the risk this poses to biosecurity.

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Published

2019-08-13

How to Cite

MacIntyre, R. (2019). The risk of selective investment in downstream pandemic planning. Global Biosecurity, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.36

Issue

Vol. 1 (2019)

Section

Editorials and Commentaries

License

Copyright (c) 2019 The Author(s)

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Received 2019-08-06
Accepted 2019-08-06
Published 2019-08-13