State of the Art Covid-19 conference: global pandemic preparedness

The web-based scientific conference was a great success with around 1400 participants and international and national experts, researchers, government, and media representatives participated in the program. The meeting presented the latest research, two days filled with keynote lectures and scientific seminars with invited lecturers working on the front lines in the fight against the virus.

Future global pandemic preparedness

One of the keynote lectures was Future global pandemic preparedness - how can we avoid the same crisis from happening again? Lessons and suggestions from two international independent expert panels.

Presenting the two panels were John-Arne Røttingen, Norway's Ambassador for Global Health and Anders Nordström, Sweden's Ambassador for Global Health and Head of the Secretariat for the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Additionally, Anna-Mia Ekström Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet participated as an expert commentator.

The lecture was moderated by Tobias Aflvén and presented a review of the key lessons and recommendations from the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response appointed by the WHO's Director General and the G20's independent panel focusing on funding issues - A Global Deal For Our Pandemic Age Report.

Based on these reports followed a discussion on how we can pursue these issues nationally and globally. It could be concluded that the pandemic response has deepened the global inequalities and the inequitable access to vaccines is one of the most prominent examples of this. For the future we need to invest and strengthen the preparedness now to prevent the next crisis.

State of the Art Covid-19 took place online November 24-25 but you can still watch the recorded program until February 22.