Let’s start preparing for the next pandemic now

In Karpacz, experts, researchers, and policymakers discussed ways to prepare for such an event and the lessons learned after Covid-19. One of the conclusions of the multi-faceted discussion is that while the pandemic has changed the approach to health care and generally increased preparedness for the next one, many measures are still needed to make that preparedness even better. The Carpathian Declaration for Health, created by patient organisations, was also presented at the event.

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Przygotowania do kolejnej pandemii rozpocznijmy teraz

Edukacja, procedury, lepsza profilaktyka – to kluczowe sfery, które będą istotne dla lepszego przygotowania do kolejnej pandemii.

The Covid-19 pandemic heralded a transformation of the world and the role of medicine. Health issues have come to the forefront for politicians, reporters, and the public. The talks in Karpacz focused on the key lessons of the period and their relevance for the future.

Humility in approaching new challenges

- Will it get better? Will we manage? – Marcin Piasecki asked the participants in the discussion at the Rzeczpospolita Salon.

Interviewees emphasised the need for humility in approaching new challenges, but also for directional new actions.

- The answer to these questions is not entirely up to us. It depends on the nature of the phenomenon we are dealing with. That’s what we don’t know today. The answer to the question of preparation is not easy, either. However, we have learned a lot; and in future, it will probably be better as long as the enemy is not more dangerous than it was, said Dr Michał Sutkowski, CEO of the Warsaw Family Doctors, in the first round of discussion.

The debate was accompanied by the presentation of the Carpathian Declaration for Health, which is a call for more effective and decisive actions regarding the fight against lung diseases. The declaration was created by patient organisations gathered in the Alliance for Combating Infectious Diseases of the Respiratory System “Poland Healthy Breathing.” Its recommendations include a fast lane for early detection and treatment of diseases, expansion of immunisation programmes, emphasis on communication in developing a safe health care system, and expansion of pharmacists’ licence to vaccinate.

At a panel discussion in Karpacz, experts underlined that certain conditions are needed to make the preparation for and fight against future pandemics more effective.

- It will get better on condition that there is education and procedures, said Dr Jakub Gierczyński. - I recommend the Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education’s [Instytutu Praw Pacjenta i Edukacji Zdrowotnej] latest report on patients with Covid-19 struggling to get medical help. This report showed that procedures are necessary as patients will go to Primary Health Care centres or pharmacies. Praise the pharmacies for staying open during the pandemic. We remember our concerns when there was no vaccine. In the meantime, oral medications were invented that lowered the risk of severe Covid-19. As physicians, we hope that drug development will parallel the development of pathogens, he added.

We are better prepared

Professor Marcin Czech, former head of the Ministry of Health and President of the Polish Pharmacoeconomic Society [Polskie Towarzystwo Farmakoekonomiczne] also spoke about the possible scenarios.

- Covid-19 reminded us of what infectious diseases are. In my opinion, people have coped admirably with the subsequent pandemics waves. Vaccines were quickly created, people swiftly exchanged information, and we’ve got drugs. We are much more adapted to the next battles with the next epidemics. We can build on this wisdom. We can protect ourselves against many diseases as children and adults. I would like to emphasise that prevention is one of the most cost-effective interventions also from the pharmacoeconomic point of view, Marcin Czech underlined.

Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) MP Barbara Dziuk of the Parliamentary Health Committee also spoke about changes in the approach to pandemic and infectious diseases.

- Now the epidemic is fairly under control, although it is not over yet. Meanwhile, the overlap of civilisation diseases plus epidemic is a major challenge for everyone – the Ministry of Health, doctors, nurses, and patients. However, we have taken a big leap when it comes to the digitalisation of health care (e.g. e-prescriptions). The Ministry of Health seems to have done a gigantic job in this regard. However, we must be vigilant at all times, Barbara Dziuk emphasised.

The MP noted the importance in the current situation of not only digitalisation or changes in medical procedures, but also prevention and health education, including in the sphere of role model building by public figures. - Prevention through education is fundamental, said Barbara Dziuk.

Time to learn lessons

The conversation in Karpacz was multifaceted and also dealt with proposals for the availability of medical services in the era of Covid-19.

- Experience against Covid-19 would indicate that we should be able to handle pandemics in future, said Patient Ombudsman Bartłomiej Chmielowiec. - This is a good moment in time. And now we should draw conclusions as to what needs to be improved, so that we don’t have situations like this when the access to services was limited, when Primary Health Care centres were unavailable, and when we had cancellations of planned treatments. This is a good time to think about what we should focus on in future. Among other things, it’s a matter of education. We see how anti-vaccine movements erupted during the pandemic. This is a good time for analysis, he added.

Education has emerged in the debate as one of the key areas in the context of fighting the next pandemics.

- We can handle the vaccination rate issue if we work on health education. It’s still a mess, for example, when it comes to a potential school subject. Poland has not been as traumatised by the pandemic as the people of Italy or Brazil. I admire the latter country for having vaccinated more people than in Poland. Brazilians have seen the tangible effects of the pandemic on the streets, which has a very strong effect on the imagination, said Dr Arkadiusz Nowak, Rev., Chairman of the Patients Council at the Ministry of Health. - I hope we can cope because as the society we will believe in medicine, not in those who undermine the foundations of medicine.

No need to build from scratch

A separate thread of discussion was the issue of disease prevention.

- First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the structures that already exist, rather than to build new units. Equip laboratories well so that cases can be detected in real time. We have a great network of sanitary and epidemiological stations with a surveillance network. Sanitary and epidemiological stations have the experience and capacity; they just need to be equipped better and strengthened. Laboratories also need to be supported, so that they are prepared for new challenges, Professor Joanna Zajkowska of the Medical University of Bialystok stressed during the debate.

The interlocutors also emphasised the unique situation with regard to infectious diseases and their spread.

- Infectious diseases are a specific group of diseases in which we are responsible not only for our own health, but also for the health of others. If I get vaccinated against the flu, I will infect others less. If I get vaccinated against whooping cough, I will not infect the children in the nursery. I appeal to social responsibility. It is also a responsibility for our fellow citizens. Vaccination is an achievement that needs to be built up as a kind of social obligation, Dr Jakub Gierczyński pointed out.