Covid: scientists at Global Summit, ‘no country is safe until everyone is’

Milan, 21 May (beraking latest news Salute) – “No country is safe until everyone is safe”. This is the warning launched at the Global Health Summit in Rome by Peter Piot, Belgian microbiologist advisor to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, together with the scientists who wrote a report for the participants. at the world summit.

In their message, the experts stress the need to close the acute phase of the pandemic and also to focus on preparing for future threats that will have to be measured. They warn that without “equal and universal access” to vaccines and resources it will not be possible to exit the Covid tunnel. In the report they explain that, “as we prepare for the likelihood that Sars-CoV-2 will become endemic”, with possible “seasonal outbreaks due to decreased immunity, insufficient vaccination coverage globally or the emergence of new viral variants. “and” further probable epidemic waves, particularly in countries with low vaccination coverage “, we must also look to the future.

And the representatives of the panel of 26 experts reiterate this today in their messages at the Global Health Summit. They speak of the importance of “investing in research before, during and after health crises”. And they add again: “We ask leaders to strengthen the production capacities of all areas of the world, by financing a stable network of regional vaccine and biological drug production hubs”.

In the report “we have drawn – say the 26 scientists, coming from all over the world – a map for the future by identifying the priority areas for immediate action: equal global access to medical supplies and the tools necessary to face Covid-19 and other threats to health; research and innovation; involvement of research groups in middle and low-income countries; integrated disease surveillance and data sharing; listening to scientific indications; strengthening of personnel and health systems; regional productive capacities; public trust “, which must be cultivated, also because it is severely tested” by the infodemic “, the experts recall today, referring to that uncontrollable cascade of often unverified and incorrect information, which has characterized these months of health emergency. And finally, the list of areas on which action is needed ends with “well-coordinated governance and sustainable health“.