Preparedness

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Governance
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Belgium's Minister of Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir visit a WHO-backed mRNA vaccine hub, in Cape Town, South Africa, February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Shelley Christians

Strengthening Epidemic Preparedness at the Country Level

by Tom Frieden, Chen Chen, Janneth Mghamba, Mohammed Lamorde

Health security approaches and challenges

Governance
a man wearing a white tank top self-administers an oral cholera vaccine

Five Conditions for Success in Public Health

by Tom Frieden

What improving public health requires

Beds at a temporary field hospital set up in a sports complex by Medicines Sans Frontieres during the coronavirus outbreak in Khayelitsha township near Cape Town, South Africa, on July 21, 2020. The photo shows a large gymnasium with lots of beds in rows. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
Poverty

Health-Systems Strengthening in the Age of COVID-19

by Angela E. Micah, Katherine Leach-Kemon, Joseph L. Dieleman

As the pandemic stresses many health-systems to their breaking point, it’s more important than ever to bolster them now

Bird's eye view: visitors take in a panoramic scene of the city of Toronto, Canada, from the 553 meters (1815 feet) high CN Tower, which just reopened after coronavirus restrictions on July 15, 2020. The photo shows a woman wearing a mask looking out from the skyview of the tall building with the Toronto cityscape beneath her. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
Aging

Coronavirus in Toronto—Lessons Lost on a Second SARS

by Allison Daniel

The city's COVID-19 response is strongly informed by the experience of the earlier outbreak—but by no means exceptional

Argentine canoeist Sebastian Rossi trains in his girlfriend's pool, due to the coronavirus outbreak, as he prepares for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina June 8, 2020. The photo shows the canoeist rowing furiously in a swimming pool. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
Poverty

Argentina's Quarantine—The Long View

by Carlos Javier Regazzoni

To build on the country's early success against COVID-19, we should envision an overall Latin American pandemic response

Monica Samudio, 46, whose husband Jorge Garcia, 51, died from coronavirus looks out of her window in Mexico City on April 29, 2020. Samudio faced discrimination when she contracted the disease. Picture shows the woman looking out her window and partially reflected in the glass. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
Governance

Estimating the Latin Wave of Coronavirus

by Rafael Lozano

Projections show potential impact of COVID-19 on Latin America—Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador among the hardest hit

New cars are seen lined up next to the dock as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, at the Port of Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 29, 2020. The photo is an aerial shot of a large lot packed completely with lines of cars. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Migration

Avoiding Another COVID-19 Surge in the United States

by Ali H. Mokdad

Keeping tabs on movement, infections, and testing are crucial to containing the virus

A formation of the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds fly past the Washington Monument as a salute to first responders and essential personnel during the coronavirus pandemic on May 2, 2020. The photo shows two tight formations of several jets flying by the Washington monument on a brilliant blue sky day. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Governance

Public Health is Always Political

by Travis Bias

U.S. pandemic responses are human endeavors led by governments put in place by the people through political processes

The bar chart shows sources of pandemic preparedness spending, organizations and countries
Governance

Funding Pandemic Preparedness: A Global Public Good

by Hayley Stutzman, Angela E. Micah, Joseph L. Dieleman

Pandemics in a globalized world require global responses. We must be better equipped and funded.

Medical staff pose for a portrait in a combination of photos at Harborview Medical Center during the coronavirus pandemic outbreak in Seattle, Washington on April 8, 2020. Picture is a composite photo with a grid of health care workers wearing scrubs. A few are wearing masks. REUTERS/David Ryder
Food

COVID-19: This Crisis Should Make Us Stronger

by Ali H. Mokdad

As efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 succeed, those who are better off must help the most vulnerable

Normally bustling tourist mecca Bourbon Street lies deserted in the early afternoon during shelter in place orders to slow the spread of coronavirus in a photograph of New Orleans on March 27, 2020. The photo shows a view of the entrance to Bourbon street, which would normally be packed with tourists and other people, almost completely empty. REUTERS/Drone Base
Governance

Preparing for the COVID-19 Surge in the United States

by Ali H. Mokdad

States such as Louisiana, New York, Michigan, and North Carolina are likely to be among the hardest hit

A worker in protective gear directs a masked passenger disembarking from the cruise ship Grand Princess in Oakland, California on March 10, 2020 amid concern over the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The picture shows a man wearing a mask and a cowboy hat standing facing a health worker in full protective gear. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
Governance

Coronavirus: A Twenty-Year Failure

by David P. Fidler

Unheeded warnings and past pandemic preparedness policy failures have left the world vulnerable to COVID-19

The Grand Canal is seen after the Italian government imposed a virtual lockdown on the north of Italy including Venice to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak, in Venice, Italy on March 9, 2020. The image shows the iconic canal with almost no boats, just a single gondola. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri
Migration

The Big European Shut Down

by Ilona Kickbusch, Susan Bergner

COVID-19 pandemic reflects the EU’s powerlessness to act coherently on health matters—but it also reveals a path forward

Soldiers guard the Ecuadoran side of a border with Colombia in Tufino, Ecuador on March 15, 2020, after country leaders announced the closure of its borders to all foreign travelers due to COVID-19. The photo shows a simple border crossing through a small town with a big sign reading "Ecuador" above the street. The crossing is closed with metal barricades, and a soldier stands out front. REUTERS/Daniel Tapia
Trade

Coronavirus in Latin America

by Carlos Javier Regazzoni

How will the region cope with COVID-19 pressure on health care systems, weak economies, and unstable politics