We welcomed one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leading epidemiologists to Canberra, Dr Maria Van Kerhove.
Dr Van Kerhove discussed navigating the challenges of an evolving global health landscape and reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The One Health approach was a focus – understanding and addressing health threats across human, agricultural or animal, and ecosystem health.
Dr Van Kerhove said the WHO continued to stress the need for planning and preparing to respond to new health threats.
‘We work for everyone on this planet. Regardless of where you are from, rich-poor, urban-rural, any religion, any political background. Our job is keeping people safe,’ she said.
‘Responding to COVID is pandemic preparedness for the future …
‘The learnings from COVID, learnings from H1N1 (avian influenza) in 2009, is all preparedness for a future pandemic. We have to do better next time.’
Dr Van Kerhove also called on governments around the world to continue the work that was important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Most governments don’t have the singular focus on COVID that they did. But we are saying to governments: “Those investments, the blood, sweat and tears of responding to COVID, that needs to continue.”
‘During COVID, we could see individual cases. We could trace their close contacts. We went from individual cases to small clusters and then widespread transmission. That was the nature of the virus …
‘Now we are seeing countries dismantle their entire disease surveillance systems and that is a mistake.’
Dr Van Kerhove is the Director of the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management. She is technical lead for COVID-19 and the Global Mpox Incident Manager in the Health Emergencies Programme at the WHO.
Photo caption – Dr Maria Van Kerhove (third from left) joined other WHO representatives, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Health and Aged Care and interim Australian Centre for Disease Control officials during a visit to Canberra. Head of the interim CDC, Professor Paul Kelly (second from right), provided an official welcome.