A top British scientist has warned of another pandemic which as per him is “absolutely inevitable”. His prediction comes at a time when the world is just getting over Covid-19 after four years.
Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to standstill between 2019 to 2021. Later, small Covid-19 waves kept arising at frequent intervals across the world.
Sir Patrick Vallance, who is the former chief scientific adviser to the British government, has urged the country’s government to prioritise preparations for the pandemic. He has also reportedly said the country is “not ready” for it yet.
According to the Guardian report, Vallance, speaking at a panel event at the Hay Festival in Powys, stressed that the UK government must implement “better surveillance” to detect the threats of the virus.
He has also recommended some measures to prevent drastic steps during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as diagnostic tests, vaccines, and treatments. He believes that such measures could be implemented, however, it would require some coordination.
“We know we have to have an army, not because there’s going to be a war this year, but we know it’s an important part of what we need as a nation. We need to treat this preparedness in the same way and not to view it as an easy thing to keep cutting back when there’s no sign of a pandemic – because there won’t be a sign of a pandemic,” he was quoted by The Guardian as saying.
According to the report, Vallance also said that by 2023, G7 had “sort of forgotten” his points about the pandemic preparations in 2021. “You can't forget about it,” he said.
The British scientist, during the panel event, mentioned the World Health Organization's (WHO) pandemic accord, calling it a “positive step”. However, he also criticised its “lack of focus and urgency”.
Last week, the WHO said that Covid-19 has cut global life expectancy by almost two years, wiping out a decade of progress. According to the UN health agency's world health statistics study, global life expectancy fell 1.8 years to 71.4 years - the same level it was in 2012.
The study said that the amount of time an average person can expect to live in good health fell 1.5 years to 61.9 years in 2021.
