At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, health officials discussed the importance of preparing the world for another pandemic, the so-called "disease X".
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned that such preparation is essential to avoid the catastrophe that occurred during the covid-19 pandemic, when health systems were unable to cope with the number of infected and sick people and billions of dollars were lost.
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What is disease ix
It is not a real disease.
It is a hypothetical name adopted by the WHO and refers to some currently unknown infectious infection that is capable of causing an epidemic, or, if it spreads to several countries or continents, a pandemic.
The name was coined before the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic.
It was on the list of primary diseases published by WHO in February 2018.
Draft research and development plan (the R&D Blueprint) is a global strategy designed by a group of experts assembled by the WHO, consisting of preparedness plans that enable the rapid activation of research and development activities during epidemics.
The goal of the draft is to accelerate the availability of effective tests, vaccines and drugs that can be used to save lives and avoid a large-scale crisis.
In recent years there have been several epidemics: SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), swine flu, MERS (Middle East acute respiratory syndrome), Ebola, and covid-19.
Experts fear that the next big pandemic is lurking around the corner and that it could be more serious than the one caused by the corona virus that caused the disease covid-19.
Will disease X cause a pandemic?
Although there is currently no disease x, researchers, scientists and experts hope that a proactive approach will devise an action plan to combat such a virus and prepare national health systems for a possible pandemic.
At the World Economic Forum last week, during the panel discussion "Preparing for Disease X", the head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Gebreyesus, said that "additional efforts are needed to prepare health systems for the multiple challenges that lie ahead" in the event of a much more deadly pandemic.
"Of course, some people say this can cause panic," he said.
"It is better to foresee something that can happen, because it has happened many times in our history, and prepare for it".
The covid-19 pandemic surprised most of the world, as the BBC wrote in 2021: "But for years, epidemiologists and other experts have been warning that we should prepare for a pandemic."
Most of these experts are concerned that pandemics come from animals.
Namely, 75 percent of new diseases are zoonoses.
It is a term used to describe an infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
It was the same with covid-19, which is believed to have originated from pangolins that were sold in markets in China.
But, as with covid-19, zoonoses are thought to be becoming more risky because of human behavior.
Human influence on the climate, encroachment on wildlife habitats, and world travel all help the spread of animal-borne diseases.
Combined with urbanization, overpopulation and global trade, the ideal scenario for new pandemics has been created, according to some experts.
How the world is preparing for the next pandemic
At a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum, Dr. Tedros said the WHO has already begun implementing measures for the next outbreak.
Among the measures are the establishment of a pandemic fund and a "technology transfer center" in South Africa, which will enable local production of vaccines and will help overcome the unequal availability of vaccines in high- and low-income countries.
In its 2022 report, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recommended that instead of developing new systems for pandemics, existing ones should be strengthened.
He also recommended that all new systems be tested before the outbreak of a new pandemic.
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In June 2022, WHO published 10 proposals to strengthen the continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data.
"An effective disease surveillance system is essential to quickly detect disease outbreaks before they spread, threaten lives and become difficult to control," the proposals said.
The WHO also admits that epidemics do not always originate from an identified source, but that "they may be caused by a pathogen that is not currently known to cause disease in humans".
And most people foresee further progress in the development of vaccine technology.
Several Covid-19 vaccines were available worldwide within a year of the outbreak, which is significant for vaccine development because of the speed at which they are developed.
In the future, scientists should be able to quickly adapt existing vaccine formulas to create new ones that will help protect people from disease.
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