From left: CEO, World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Sultana Afdhal; Director of the Jenner Institute, Oxford University, Prof Sir Adrian Hill; Chair of the Board, and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Lady Roslyn Morauta; Head of Infectious Diseases and Senior Consultant, Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, H E Dr. AK Abdul Momen during the session on Monday. pic: Rajan Vadakemuriyil
Doha, Qatar: Healthcare leaders shed light on lessons learned from COVID-19 and future plans for addressing health emergencies and pandemics, during a session at the Doha Forum 2023, yesterday.
The panellist at the session on ‘Vaccine Innovation and Global Health Resilience: Lessons from COVID-19 and Beyond’ discussed the pivotal role vaccines and their innovation play in fortifying healthcare systems and the importance of resilience and adaptability of healthcare infrastructures at a national scale as well as in the context of global health challenges.
“As we navigate ongoing respiratory viruses and global conflicts, climate change, and inevitable disease outbreaks, it’s crucial to bolster health systems,” said Head of Infectious Diseases and Senior Consultant, Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal.
“Building resilience helps countries circumvent future costs, so it may end up being money-saving as we invest in existing health infrastructure and preventive programs. This automatically enhances our resilience and makes us more prepared for more acute and chronic shocks,” he added.
CEO, World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Sultana Afdhal moderated the session which also heard the panellists emphasis on the mechanisms which can be put in place to ensure equitable access to resources and technologies across nations during healthcare emergencies.
“We require collaborative mechanisms, where major health organizations cooperated to ensure global access to treatments. The pandemic revealed an unequal distribution of resources,” said Chair of the Board, and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Lady Roslyn Morauta.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, H E Dr. AK Abdul Momen said that collaboration and partnerships can play a major role in fighting healthcare emergencies and pandemics. He said that 70% of the Bangladesh population was vaccinated against COVID-19 due to the support and collaboration with other countries, World Health Organization and the Unicef.
“Our observation is vaccine should be given to all countries uniformly. Everyone has a right to have a vaccine. If one group of people remains infected then no one is out of danger. This is a lesson we have to look into the future,” he said.
“We should build a system so that any disaster like this (COVID-19) ever comes again, then the world should be ready to help… We must have continuous research so that we can develop better opportunities and better facilities,” Minister Momen added.
Director of the Jenner Institute, Oxford University, Prof. Sir Adrian Hill explained that COVID-19 brought unprecedented understanding to vaccine research and said that the lessons should be taken for future vaccine manufacture.
“We can develop vaccines faster than ever. Creating a malaria vaccine—has taken 30 years, but COVID-19 accelerated our approach,” he said.
