COVID-19 AND ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN PANDEMICS (By- Sneha Kumari)
COVID-19 AND ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS IN PANDEMICS
Authored By- Sneha Kumari
(LLM Candidate At Chanakya National Law University, Patna)
Introduction
Human beings are continuously facing
an unpredictable power of nature. The continuous evolution of infections or
infectious diseases which often comes without warning poses very high risk of
threat to human life. The social, environmental, economic and demographic
changes play an important role in increasing public health crisis which often
give rise to pandemics. The spread of such diseases which takes the form of a
pandemic is wide and quick affecting greater number of people covering majority
of areas, countries. The situation of such a nature has greater impact on
global economy. With the increase of
globalisation and urbanisation there is a rapid increase in human population
also, due to which there is more likely emerging situation of viruses which
spread fast and far. There can also be a situation where it is almost
impossible to predict the source of virus but it may have adverse effect on
human life.[1]
One such pandemic emerged recently in
21st century is Covid-19 or SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as corona
virus. The spread of corona virus has become limitless affecting almost all the
countries in the world. The global spread of this virus is something more than
a public health crisis, causing social and economic disruption. Covid-19 is not
the first pandemic as the world has experienced several pandemics since
history, from Plague of Justinian in 541 CE to Spanish flu and Asian flu in the
20th century; from H1N1 Swine flu to Covid-19 in 21st
century and AIDS till present.[2]
The unprecedented crisis triggered global health, humanitarian and human rights
crisis. Whenever a pandemic like situation arises it reverses the decades of
hard won development gains of a nation as well as exacerbates the
vulnerabilities globally. The dramatic shifts in demographics and with rise of
globalization and urbanisation, the spread of infectious diseases across globe
increased, having great impact on
societies reinforcing the human perception of frailty and mortality.[3]
The novel corona virus can be compare to 1918 Spanish flu and it can be
inferred that between the two lethal pandemics, despite various developments
made in science and technology, various effective vaccines made etc. yet the
public health response has not been changed in the last 101 years and we are
again face- masked and practicing ancient quarantine and isolation procedures.
The outbreak of novel corona virus
triggering worldwide attention, in its early stage, affected four major
countries i.e., China, Japan, Thailand and Korea with total confirmed cases of
282. But after monitoring the situation closely, it was assessed that the risk
is not limited to regional level but it will have a high risk of affecting
people globally.[4] In the
month of February there are 99% cases reported in China and 97% of deaths in
the province of Hubei.[5]
It is a serious global crisis growing at an
exponential rate. World health Organisation in collaboration with other organisation
like UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO etc at international level and other organizations at
national level is working urgently to tackle with such serious global issue and
to coordinate with the development of medical countermeasures.
This article will review the origin
of novel corona virus pandemic comparing with all the other pandemics took
place; how it affected the world socially, economically, politically and
environmentally and the role of International Organisation to tackle with such
serious issue affecting world at large which is the main concern of the present
article.
Pandemics: A Long Series Of
Scourges
Pandemic, in its literal sense means
“widespread of a disease over a whole country or a world.” It is defined as an
epidemic occurring worldwide, crossing international boundaries and affecting
large number of people.[6]
The impact of pandemics will always be catastrophic. The outbreak of a pandemic
is a worldwide issue as it has the potential to devastate countries and put the
progress of a nation in halt. Throughout the course of history, diseases and
illnesses have tormented humanity,
signalling the end of entire human
civilization. Dating from pre-historic to modern times, there are number of
worst pandemics which ravaged humanity such as- Plague of Justinian; Black
Death; Yellow Fever; Spanish Flu; Asian Flu; Bird Flu; Swine Flu and many more.
Millions of people dies, thousands of people were infected due to this. The
more civilised human became, the more likely pandemics occurred. The building of
new empires, widespread trade and commerce routes for humans and animals
facilitated the spread of disease. The earliest cities has one thing in common
with the current Wuhan city of China is that human beings lived with close
proximity with animals due to which the contagion transferred from animals to
humans.[7]
The best example to quote here is novel Corona Virus or COVID-19.
Looking at the history of pandemics,
the worst pandemic in human history is Plague of Justinian in the mid 6th
century (541 CE), where half of the population of Europe had perished. This
plague caused massive economic struggle. The plague, named ‘Black Death’ also
called ‘Bubonic Plague’, again came after 800 years, in 1347 which lasted for
350 years and killed one-third of the population in Europe.[8]
The symptoms of both plague and Black Death were very similar. Both the
pandemics had drastic effect which changed the social fabric of the western
world permanently. Earlier, there was not a known cure for such diseases
therefore plague treatment was limited in nature. People used to perform home
remedies like inhalation of aromatic vapours from flowers and herbs and due to
shortage of doctors and failing all the approaches to treatment, people started
offering magical protection as well.[9]
One of the important things to know
about Black Death is, the practice of quarantine started in 14th
century in order to protect coastal cities from the plague. The word quarantine
derived from Italian word ‘quaranta giorni’ or ’40 days’. Today, in the
outbreak of corona virus people are practicing quarantine system though it has
not come to the severity of any great pandemic like Bubonic Plague. While the interactions created through
trade and urban life plays an important role, it is also the deadly nature of
particular diseases that indicate the trajectory of a pandemic. Since 1900 with
the emergence of influenza virus four major pandemics have occurred they are-
Spanish Flu (1918); Asian Flu (1957) and Hong Kong Flu (1968). These have
emerged as virulent disease just like recent COVID-19. The rapid spread of
these diseases wrecked havoc, caused severe economic losses to countries,
corporations and individuals, affected trade and commerce severely.
The outbreak of Spanish flu was most
devastating killing 50-100 million people, although the fatality was low, the
incidence of infections was very high.[10] These pandemics caused immense burden on the
medical staffs as many people got infected and died within a week. The demand
of wartime made shortages of nurses and doctors.[11]
It was reported[12]
in the year 1957 that Asian flu was a blend of Avian Flu viruses which spread
rapidly killing 1.1 million people worldwide and 116,000 deaths in US.
The
series of scourges has not ended here. The 21st century has been
marked by major pandemics affecting human life such as Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS); Ebola; Zika virus; HIV AIDS; H1N1 Swine Flu and recent corona
virus. SARS is considered to be the first pandemic of 21st century
identified in 2003. It is believed to have possibly started in China followed
by 26 countries. The
worldwide spread of SARS was closely monitored by global health professionals
and was seen as a wake-up call to improve outbreak responses, and lessons from
the pandemic were used to keep diseases like H1N1, Ebola and Zika under
control.[13] Since 1968, first influenza pandemic
virus identified was Swine Flu in 2009. According to CDC report, more than 1.4
billion people were infected within one year and approximately 151,700- 575,400
people died.[14] The impact of the infection
primarily affected children and young adults by infecting the lower respiratory
tract and causing progressive pneumonia in them.[15] In developing countries, the
diseases of such a nature pose more threats to public health due to lack of
investment in their health infrastructure. A national healthcare system is
important to build in order to respond effectively to the health crisis and to
prevent their spread to international borders as well.[16]
The 2019 Corona Virus Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the
whole world causing serious global crisis. A novel corona virus was first
detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China after an outbreak of pneumonia. WHO
country office in China was notified mass number of cases of pneumonia of
unknown cause.[17] The cases increased and after a
month WHO declared the outbreak as a “Public
Health Emergency of International Concern” and after that SARS CoV2 (named
later) was declared as pandemic on March 10.[18] With
the potential of causing severe social, economic and political disruption, this
outbreak had captured global attention. It is believed that the novel corona
virus has been originated from the food market at Wuhan in China however, the
zoonotic source of it is not confirmed but suggested bats as the main reservoir
after a sequence- based analysis. The virus is highly transmittable and
transmitted mainly between people through respiratory droplets and contact
routes.[19] It can
be spread in two ways- firstly, when an infected individual comes in close
contact with an uninfected individual by releasing small droplets by way of
sneezing, coughing; secondly, transmission through surface contamination.
This
crisis is not bound by its effects within the national borders rather it
extends its boundary in global space too. Within a short span of time, the
disease spread faster and the cases of infected persons and deaths reaches its
peak reporting higher in other countries than China. WHO in its report stated
that it is not just a public health crisis as it would affect every sector and
every individual. WHO has summarised it in four key areas:- prepare and be
ready; detect, protect and treat; reduce transmission; innovate and learn. WHO
recommended preventive measures such as quarantine system; isolating, testing
and tracing every contact to be adopted every country in order to reduce the transmission
of disease.[20] In
response to such pandemic various countries in the early days of COVID-19
imposed complete lockdown policy and adopted social distancing measures to
tackle
it. The extensive lockdowns restricted the freedom of movement and in this
process the freedom to enjoy many other rights has been restricted. By adopting
such measures, the people’s livelihood has been affected inadvertently.[21] But it
was seen in some countries where people disobeyed the rules of government. For
example in UK an incident took place in August where another black people died
during encounter with police. It happened when there was complete lockdown in
the country and people marched with ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement and big UK
protest trended. Another example is India where there was sharp rise in corona
cases than the rest of the country due to migrant workers. Six states- Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam, in the mid June has
seen huge spike in cases when migrants started returning to their home states.
Therefore, it can be said that people can very easily disobey the government
rules and crush the whole idea of social distancing and quarantine procedures.
The pandemic requires a coordinated international response for which the role of
various international organisations like the WHO, UNESCO, IHR etc as well as
the role of local authorities, research centres, health protection agencies etc
becomes important.
Covid-19
Impacts And Role Of International Organisations
World Health Organisation was founded in 1948 with an aim to attain highest possible
level of health by all the people. From 1948, it has been working to promote
health and to serve vulnerable people, facing various challenges. The role of
WHO as a directing and coordinating authority has been challenged with the
creation of new institutions and new initiatives taken by the existing one. For
example, in 1980, World Bank entered into health sector and now it has emerged
as the world’s largest lender in the health, nutrition and population sector of
developing countries.[22]
With the emergence of new health problems, policies and new
organisations like UNAIDS, GAVI
Alliance, UNITAID etc, to tackle specific disease problems, WHO’s
credibility and capabilities have been weakened. Early years of WHO was
cautious and technical but gradually it is known to be the best for its efforts
to control and eradicate particular diseases. There was rapid evolution of the
membership from 55 states in 1948 to
194 states as of 2020. Now the question comes here is, how the pandemics were
controlled and prevented before the emergence of the WHO or any other
organisation? What is the history of previous efforts taken to control the
outbreak?
So, looking at the history of
pandemics earlier there were not known methods of treatment to control the
outbreak. Before 18th century, people used to perform home remedies
like inhalation of aromatic vapours from flowers and herbs and due to shortage
of doctors and failing all the approaches to treatment, people started offering
magical protection as well[23] although pandemic such as plague,
cholera etc. showed the sign of poor spiritual and moral condition therefore,
public effort was made to prevent the spread of disease through isolation and
adopting quarantine procedures. By the 18th century, the isolation
of ill people and quarantine became common practices to prevent the contagious
disease. Earlier, the first known quarantine was adopted during the time of
Black Death (Bubonic Plague) in the mid 12th century. In 1851,
France convened first International Sanitary Conferences to address the
standardization of quarantine regulations. Quarantine remains in effect in the
present time also as we can see it today when the whole world is facing the
outbreak of COVID-19. Today, it is considered as highly regulated public health
measure both nationally and internationally to combat corona virus. With the
passage of time, health became the societal goal to every individual and the
protection of health became social responsibility.
In the 20th century,
Spanish Flu was the first global pandemic occurred in 1918 with devastating
consequences for societies. Despite great advances in public health, the origin
of this influenza virus remains unknown. This took place in the middle of World
War I and within months it had spread to every corner of the world. In 1918,
there was neither had any treatment or cure to this flu pandemic nor had any
vaccine. Today also the world is facing similar situation as no one has any
treatment or cure or vaccine for corona virus. Therefore, it can be said that
between the two lethal pandemics, despite various developments made in science
and technology, various effective vaccines made etc. yet we are again face-
masked and practicing ancient quarantine and isolation procedures.[24]
Now, in the 21st century
the Ebola virus disease is an important wake-up call for all the countries to
improve its preparedness for outbreaks. Most experts believed that the exotic
pathogens only affect
the poor country like Africa and not
the wealthy countries but this myth has gone when, in 2003, Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) took place affecting people of wealthy urban areas.
Then, in 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic took place which was first in the 21st
century which proved that the virus can spread to every corner of the world
despite having high standards of living and well developed health systems.[25] Similar is the case with corona
virus. COVID-19 disrupted all and left no country untouched. COVID-19 exposed
the inequalities in our health systems and widened the gap between us. The
pandemic is still accelerating, so comprehensive approach must be taken to
control the outbreak and for that the role of WHO and other organisations,
nationally and internationally, is extremely important.
WHO at the beginning of an outbreak plays an informative role which is followed by preparedness
and response acts. The interim name of virus was recommended by WHO as “2019-nCoV”, named as COVID-19 provided
by International Classification of
Diseases. WHO declared the outbreak as “Public Health Emergency of
International Concern.”[26] The Emergency Committee on 2019-nCoV
under International Health Regulations
(2005) provided advice to WHO and global community on measures to control
the outbreak.[27] International Health Regulations is
the only international legal framework governing how WHO and its member states
should respond to infectious disease outbreak. With the rapid transmission of
disease in a globalized world, there is a chance that the failure state could
place the other state in peril therefore global approach to security is
required whenever there is a global threat posed by pandemics.[28]
Therefore, IHR ensures that there
should not be any significant gap at the national level which may threaten the
health security of all the countries worldwide. For example, diseases like H1N1
influenza, SARS, MERS etc showed huge gaps in the implementation of revised IHR
and WHO’s responsibility to respond to emergencies. Since 2004 (after the
outbreak of SARS), South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) and Western Pacific
Regional Office (WPRO), member states to WHO, addressed emerging infectious
disease outbreaks and developed collective strategy which resulted
in the adoption of Asia Pacific
Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED) in 2005.[29] APSED works according to the
principles of IHR “core public health capacities”. Thus, IHR is the only
universal and comprehensive treaty on health, backed by WHO, with an aim to
prevent, detect and respond to major disease outbreaks. The IHR revisions were
adopted as WHA Resolution 58.3[30] in the year 2005, providing a robust
framework for preventing, protecting against, controlling and providing a
public health response to the international spread of disease.[31] According to Article 50 of IHR, the review committee can make technical
recommendations to the Director- General regarding amendments to IHR for its
functioning. In response to COVID-19 WHO expected the review of the functioning
of IHR in following areas[32]:
(a)
Convening of the Emergency Committee and its working
modalities;
(b)
International Coordination and Collaboration for response;
(c)
Outbreak alert, verification, information sharing and
communication;
(d)
Additional health measures in relation to international
travel;
(e)
Implementation and reporting of IHR core capacities;
(f)
Examining progress made on the implementation of
recommendation from previous review committees.
In response to COVID-19, it is the
fourth time that a review committee has been established. Earlier it was
established for the first time in 2010 during influenza pandemic; second in
2014 for national public health capacities and; third in 2016 during West
African Ebola Outbreak.
WHO plays an operational role in the response to a disease and introduces better
practices in international coordination around pandemics. In 1952, Global Influenza Surveillance and Response
System (GISRS), created by WHO to monitor the origin of influenza virus.
WHO also published influenza pandemic planning framework in the year 1999 to
enhance the influenza surveillance, to develop speedy vaccine production and
improve its emergency preparedness.[33] Then, in 2003 the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network was formed in
response to controlling pandemics and in 2011, WHO introduced Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework for the sharing of influenza viruses and access to
vaccines and other benefits. In 2020, the whole world is facing COVID-19 pandemic
situation, WHO continues to spread co-operative prevention and preparation to
tackle this crisis. The quarantine and isolation procedures have been adopted
once again, travel bans have been imposed, international trade has been avoided
etc. WHO plays important role in sharing effective national strategies across
global networks. It ensured evidence based response to prevent the spread of
virus and gave certain recommendations like avoiding unnecessarily interference
with international travel and trade; supporting countries with weaker health
systems; accelerating the development of vaccines; combating the spread of
misinformation and rumours; identifying, isolating and preventing transmission;
sharing data and knowledge across the world and
working together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation in order to
defeat the outbreak.[34]
COVID-19 is a worldwide challenge and
it requires a global response therefore role of other organisations are also
important. Besides WHO, International
Labour Organisation is trying hard to provide international guidance to
manage this pandemic by ensuring safety of every individual and identifying
short, medium and long term sustainable solutions. International Labour Standards (maintained by ILO) set up an
equitable framework and incorporate resilience in front of tactile situation
and it is also essential to a long lasting response to a pandemic. The
Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendations, 2017 laid
stress to adopt strategic approach to crisis response like stabilizing
livelihood and income; promoting economic recovery; promoting sustainable
employment; taking appropriate measures for socio- economic reintegration etc.[35] The recommendation emphasizes the
importance of workers’ and employers’ in responding to pandemic situation. It
particularly underlines the planning, implementing and monitoring measures for
recovery and resilience. The ILO has structured its policy around four pillars
for response to a crisis- stimulating economy and employment; supporting
enterprises, jobs and incomes; protecting workers’ in the workplace and relying
on social dialogue for solutions.[36] Adherence to the contribution of
International Labour Standards is a key to shaping the recovery and preventing
a downturn in employment and labour conditions during and after the crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only
showed us the urgency of better knowledge sharing but also made us aware of the
science for research and international cooperation. The United Nation
scientific agency, UNESCO along with
science ministers from 73 countries discussed the issue of pandemic and
highlighted the need to better sharing of information and allowing free access
to scientific data. The UNOOSA programme
UN-SPIDER has been created in the fight against COVID-19 as it helps all
countries to access the benefits of space application which provides unique
solutions for improving global health and COVID response to tackle the
pandemic. Besides this, International
Telecommunication Union plays critical role in the collective response to
COVID-19 which includes Global Network
Resiliency Platform (REG4COVID) to ensure that the networks are kept
resilient and telecom services are available to maximum extent.[37]
If we look at the past research of
epidemics and pandemics like SARS, Swine flu or Ebola it has highlighted
various issues which are relevant to the challenges currently being faced. Disease outbreaks, be it SARS or HIV/AIDS or
influenza or novel corona virus, the poor and marginalised suffer the most and
these outbreaks always expose the structural inequalities in societies. The
COVID-19 pandemic has again raised vulnerabilities and resilience, severely
affecting the indigenous people. But,
UNESCO has responded swiftly to the pandemic. UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee and its World Commission on
the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) released a Joint
Statement where the increased vulnerability of marginalized group of people in
times of crisis has been noted and collective responsibility has been taken to
protect them from discrimination and stigmatization.[38] The countrywide lockdowns and
quarantine procedures have exacerbated the education system as well therefore
continuity of education must be ensured to all the children worldwide. To
respond to this sudden education crisis, UNESCO set up an Education Response Task Force which created web platform with
online learning and webinars focusing on remote learning. In addition to this,
UNESCO has launched Global Covid-19
Education Coalition for protecting the right to education and to give
technical assistance and capacity development to countries in the face of the
unprecedented disruption.[39] Also, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
transformed their many face-to-face courses into an online platform which
deliver best
learning solutions to the
beneficiaries.
As an immediate response to COVID-19
pandemic, the role of CDC of USA is
also important for both public and health professionals as it aimed to protect
America from health, safety and security threats. CDC is
also providing with brief information of outbreak as well as protection advices
for travellers. In case of such crisis, CDC plays an informative role to the
countries which lack health professionals and advisory committees.[40]
To cope with the pandemic, it is advised to take extra precautions and a self
checker guide. CDC also provided useful information for health care
professional like- evaluating and testing; infection control; clinical care
guidance; optimize personal protective equipment supply etc.[41]
Therefore, professional guidance and professional health care is extremely
important to prevent chaos among individuals due to false and misguiding
information.
The
unprecedented disruption has not ended here as it has also triggered
humanitarian, socio-economic and human rights crisis. The corona virus cases
spread to over 215 countries and territories with 26,121,999 confirmed cases
and 864,618 reported deaths.[42]
Countries are now under high risks of health and nutrition services including
immunization, antenatal and post natal care for pregnant women and many more.
On one hand the pandemic is causing disruption in delivery of pregnant women
while on the other hand many countries have suspended polio and measles
campaign since the onset of pandemic. The United Nation and GAVI Alliance
reported that approximately 80 million children are at risk of diphtheria,
measles and polio due to disturbance in supply chains and immunization
services.[43]
The restrictions on domestic and international travel, curfews etc have
constrained the movement of humanitarian supplies but despite these challenges,
UNICEF and other agencies working
hard to find innovative ways to cope up with this situation. UNICEF works in
close coordination with WHO and in
humanitarian situations it is guided by Core
Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action. UNICEF’s response to
COVID-19 focuses under two main heads:- (a) public health response to reduce
virus transmission and ; (b) continuity of health, nutrition, education, social
protection etc; assessing and responding to the
immediate
socio- economic impacts of COVID-19.[44]
Describing the outbreak as ‘health
challenge for China and the rest of the country’, the three Rome-based
agencies- Food and Agriculture Organisation;
International Fund for Agriculture Development and World Food Programme
offered support to the countries battling the novel corona virus. FAO is
working to assist member countries and research communities in identifying
potential host of the virus and reduce spill over effects to humans. It came in
support of member countries to mitigate the pandemic’s impacts on their
population’s food, security and livelihood. Under the concept of One Health
approach FAO has been promoting increased awareness of zoonotic diseases and
best practice to combat it.[45]
COVID-19 has major impact on global economy and employment therefore
the role of International Monetary Fund,
the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, the World Bank and Regional Development Banks are important.
According to IMF, the global economy is expected to reduce by over 3 percent in
2020 which is the steepest slowdown since the Great Depression of 1930s and
much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.[46]
The World Bank has forecasted that nearly 60 million people worldwide will be
pushed into extreme poverty if the outbreak continues with the same pace.[47]
According to the assessment of the World
Economic Forum, for maintaining employment and financial stability, supporting
SMEs and larger businesses is crucial. In India, the Finance Minister has
announced “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Package” which is 10 percent of India’s
GDP to provide relief to MSMEs.[48]
There are other countries also which rolled out support packages. Therefore, on
one hand, the World Bank is providing new financing to countries on a
fast-track basis along with policy advice and technical
assistance, and on the other
hand, the IMF is helping its member states with debt relief, emergency
financing etc.[49]
The unprecedented crisis also
addressing risks related to Artificial Intelligence and Robotics; big data and
biotechnologies and the integrity of the supply chain therefore, to counter the
impact of organized crimes and enhance tourism sector role of United Nations Inter-regional Crime and
Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) is crucial. It has the capacity to
counter criminal groups and extremist and to strengthen resilience during
pandemic.[50]
Therefore, each organisation working to fight against this pandemic is clear
and transparent in its approach and performing a key role in shaping the
recovery and preventing disruption.
Conclusion
The spread of corona virus is the
most serious global crisis which requires global response. Having its origin
with a few deaths in Wuhan, China the virus has sent shockwaves to the whole
world as it is rightly said that ‘disease knows no borders.’ The WHO has
reported more than 27 million cases of corona virus and approximately 900,000
deaths. The most important thing at this stage is national unity and regional
and global solidarity. The pandemic has impacted nearly every community and
disrupted economies and livelihood at global level and disproportionately
impacted the most vulnerable. In the early 2020, the emergence and declaration
of COVID-19 lead countries to enforce lockdowns and quarantine procedures. This
measure affected majorly pre- planned events and activities at national and
international level. This also affected the convening of CMP-15 and the
promotion of IYPH 2020 which was declared by UNGA in 2018.
While COVID-19 is affecting human
health across globe, it is also causing adverse effect to plant pests and
diseases. Nearly half of the global population is dependent on plants and
agriculture for primary source of income, the outbreak poses a threat to food
production. The Emergency Prevention System for Trans-boundary Animal and Plant
Pests and Diseases (EMPRES), established by FAO plays an important role in
fighting against spreading trans- boundary animal diseases and plants pests.
The pandemic has great impact on global food security as well. In March 2020,
the Food Price Index was calculated which showed the global price dropped by
4.3 per cent due to demand contractions amid lockdowns and movement
restrictions. The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) is
seeking more information on transmission of virus via food traded
internationally and it is advised to avoid the consumption of raw animal
products.
The outbreak revealed the
fragility of health systems in all the countries. It showed catastrophic
effects on global economy, global health etc which resulted in human rights
crisis. Due to quarantine and movement restrictions women and children are not
safe as it increased the risks of gender based violence and discrimination
against the marginalised groups. It also disrupted access to sexual and
reproductive health services. In response to this, UN Women is providing
up-to-date information and also analysing the importance of gender. On the
other hand, UNFPA stands with those vulnerable women for their protection and
health requirements during pregnancy.
To tackle COVID-19 it is
essential for the international community to act in a coordinated manner. There
are number of organisations working tirelessly to meet the needs of the most
vulnerable. The developing countries in support with other countries, in the
spirit of South- South Solidarity (UNOSSC) and global collaboration are taking
lead and sharing successful COVID-19 containment, mitigation and social
distancing measures. At the same time, medical doctors and nurses are working
hard taking emergency response to rescue patients from fatality. States
throughout the country has ordered schools, restaurants, business closure and
enabled work from home structures. In compliance with social distancing
directives, public transit services have also been reduced. But now the
condition has been worsen and the world is again facing the similar situation
which it had faced 101 years ago during the time of influenza pandemic. The
historical accounts of 1918 pandemic and the novel corona virus pandemic have
revealed that poverty, inequalities, vulnerabilities and weak health system
creates the condition of transmission of diseases and exacerbates the existing
health system.
Nonetheless, WHO along with other
international and national organisations are working hard in response to the
unprecedented crisis and they have made remarkable progress. Since the
beginning, COVID-19 has been a priority for the WHO. Despite limited
outpatient, inpatient, community based service platforms, emergency and
critical service disruption WHO has provided that the best defence is strong
health system and essential health services which can be strengthen in three
ways: first, the continuity of essential services for immediate adjustments;
second, building medium term response across society based on Health First
approach and; third, implementing a specialized approach to service delivery
for the vulnerable under Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
Now the countries have shifted
from lockdowns phase to efforts to develop treatment and vaccines where 172
countries have potentially participated in COVAX[51]
co-led by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Prevention
Innovation which researches into vaccines and; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria which is expertise in combating infectious diseases.
By the end of 2021, COVAX is expected to deliver two billion doses of safe and
effective vaccines. Also, the collaboration between Serum Institute of India,
GAVI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ensured 100 million doses of
vaccines at very low rate if it would be successful.
With the emergence of novel
corona virus pandemic, there is a need to understand transmission patterns,
immunity, severity and other risk factors of COVID-19. The government should
continue to enforce social distancing measures and prohibit large gatherings in
public places. From the economic point of view, countries need to coordinate
with fiscal and monetary policymaking to tide over the crisis and lay the basis
of growth revival. There is also need of universal healthcare and upgrading
health centres. It is also important for every country to lift the lockdown,
taking precautionary measures, to revive the economy. Considering the current
global situation, it is highly required to have a long term strategy that
balances the social, economic and public health benefits.