Melvin Sanicas for PS Say More

The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Say More]( Welcome to Say More, a weekly newsletter offering readers exclusive insights into the ideas, interests, and personalities of some of the world’s leading thinkers. In each issue, a Project Syndicate contributor is invited to expand on topics covered in their commentaries, address new issues, and share recommendations about everything from books and recordings to hobbies and social media. This week, Project Syndicate catches up with [Melvin Sanicas]( a physician and scientist who works as a medical director at Takeda. In [last week's edition]( of Say More, [Kemal Derviş]( Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former Turkish economy minister and administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, urged leaders to advance clear and compelling COVID-19 narratives, suggested how to create more robust systems, and shared which books are keeping him company during long days of confinement. Melvin Sanicas Says More… Project Syndicate[Melvin Sanicas]( “Virus research made significant strides last year,” you [wrote]( in January, as did vaccines, owing to “global surveillance, cross-sector partnerships, and scientific advances.” With the COVID-19 pandemic prompting a race for a vaccine, are these factors being adequately leveraged? What weaknesses do you see in countries’ public-health responses? How might they be addressed? Melvin Sanicas: Two possible vaccines – Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccine and CanSino’s non-replicating vector-based vaccine – entered Phase 1 clinical trials in mid-March, less than two months after the first genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were released. That speed is unprecedented, and it would not have been possible, if researchers had not shared that genetic information very early. Moreover, as far back as mid-January, the World Health Organization published a [protocol]( created by German researchers on how to manufacture tests for COVID-19. This highlights the way knowledge and information from one country or group of researchers is being harnessed to accelerate progress. Nonetheless, while every country is doing the best it can for its citizens, the COVID-19 crisis has definitely exposed weaknesses in our health systems. And, given vast differences in the development level of various health systems, challenges vary by country. So, I can’t make a blanket recommendation. PS: After the COVID-19 pandemic is over, or at least contained, what urgent changes should policymakers – especially in developing countries – make to detect and manage infectious disease? MS: We should not wait until the current crisis is over. The best time to prepare for the next pandemic is while we are battling the current one. The responses of different countries should be mapped and analyzed, and important evidence and data must be shared, so that countries can discern which measures are most effective in limiting the damage and keeping essential health services running. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. But countries with comparable health systems can look to one another for lessons that can help them to respond more effectively to this and any future pandemic. One general lesson that is already apparent is that, as a global community, we must fundamentally change our approach to health. The COVID-19 crisis has made clear that public health is about more than providing health services to individuals, which is the focus in most countries. Pathogens do not respect borders, and unexpected diseases can emerge. The world must look at public health through a global lens and take a broader approach to disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness. This is especially relevant for developing countries – and not just with regard to direct health interventions. Governments must also implement social protections for day laborers and other economically vulnerable groups, for whom the temporary loss of income can quickly lead to hunger and destitution. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that these groups can weather a disease outbreak that requires physical distancing. To read the rest of our interview with Sanicas – in which he considers the public-health implications of climate change, corrects a common misconception about COVID-19, and offers book tips for anyone using social media – [click here](. If you are not yet a PS subscriber, [subscribe now](. Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.