Nations should join forces in fight against virus: Rand adviser
People’s Daily app
Dr. Jennifer Bouey. (Photo: People's Daily)
Washington (People's Daily) -- Senior
policy researcher and Tang Chair in China Policy Studies at the RAND
Corporation, Dr. Jennifer Bouey, said during an interview with People’s Daily
that the coronavirus outbreak was a “battle between humans and viruses, not
between people, not between countries.”
The fight against coronavirus pandemics highlight
the importance of prioritizing global health research and increase openness and
cooperation among scientists worldwide.
As an epidemiologist focused on global health and
health strategies, Bouey has taught at Georgetown University and participated
in studies on global health security issues in the US and China.
Since the SARS outbreak, China's response
capabilities during a pandemic and its health management system have improved
significantly. The country has invested in a nationwide network consisting of
disease control centers at every level, Bouey noted.
The centers are connected by a real-time,
web-based system for emerging public health events.
“The coronavirus is the most serious test for
China’s strengthened epidemic surveillance and response systems since new
measures were implemented after the SARS outbreak,” Bouey said.
Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus,
China and WHO officials began communicating with each other to share the
disease’s genetic sequence in efforts to prevent and control the epidemic.
Bouey said that because Chinese scientists
isolated the coronavirus they could conduct genomic sequencing experiments an
share their findings with the world in such a short period. Their efforts
helped identify the virus and enabled China and other countries to develop
early detection testing kits.
"This was a very important step in
controlling the outbreak, the Chinese scientists in this regard are doing very
well,” Bouey said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified the
outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) while
stressing that travel and trade restrictions would be unnecessary. Since then,
a few countries have implemented so-called "travel bans,” barring Chinese
from entering their countries.
Bouey said travel bans are an overreaction based
on multiple factors, would have huge social and economic impacts, and would not
be an effective response to the outbreak.
"A travel ban does not protect a country from
the virus. It gives the illusion that it can be contained in China, which it
isn't," she explained.
As for the growing discrimination against Chinese
due to coronavirus in other countries and regions, Bouey said this phenomenon
should be condemned.
As Bouey explained, epidemic disease outbreaks are
often accompanied by rumors and discrimination and lack a scientific basis,
stigma, and prejudice. Also, punitive remarks preclude a sense of goodwill and
more than likely undermine transparency, making the disease harder to
combat.
“The coronavirus is a threat to all human beings,
not to a particular country or nation, and international cooperation is needed
to deal with it,” Bouey elaborated.
History has revealed that China and the US maintained
strong communication and cooperation in the fight against SARS, H5N1, H1N1,
H7N9, influenza, and Ebola, and have made great contributions to the progress
of human health, said Bouey.
Looking forward, Bouey said that in a globalized
environment, the distance between countries is very small. The unfolding battle
against this new pandemic, meanwhile, highlights the importance of transparency
and open collaboration among scientists globally.
“It is a reminder that all nations should
prioritize, and protect global health research, capacity building and
cooperation,” she said.
Nations should join forces in fight against virus: Rand adviser
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