281. Bolstering Surveillance for a Pandemic
- Author:
- Jennifer Nuzzo
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the world’s vulnerabilities to pandemics, and the inadequacies of existing surveillance infrastructure and data to help us respond to them. At both the national and global level, insufficient abilities to rapidly identify and characterize the emergence of new pathogens; adequately diagnose and enumerate infected individuals; analyze trends in CO- VID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths; evaluate the impact of public health interventions; track essential supplies; and monitor COVID-19’s development have hindered global effectiveness in stopping its spread. Historically, the answers to these questions have been sought from human clinical and public health sources, such as patients’ diagnostic test results and demographic information. However, as COVID-19 has demonstrated, the human health data available are often insufficient, and the management and response to a complex pandemic also requires data from other sectors, such as businesses, news, and social media; animal health and environmental organizations; and defense, law enforcement, and intelligence. These challenges are not unique to the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely be encountered again in the future unless national governments and international agencies act to improve surveillance capabilities.
- Topic:
- National Security, Infrastructure, Surveillance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus