As I finish up my practicum with the Office of Pandemic and Emerging Threats with the US Department of Health and Human Services, I have been reflecting on how my areas of focus – epidemiology, health security, pandemic preparedness – have suddenly become topics of interest for almost every individual around the world. These issues that used to be reserved for a small but growing group of public health experts have now become the domain of dinner table conversations and social media posts. This made my practicum working with countries around the world on the Global Health Security Agenda and antimicrobial resistance feel increasingly important as we not only combat the COVID-19 pandemic but also consider how to better prepare the world for future pandemics and public health threats.
Much of my practicum focused on collecting best practices of sustainable financing for emergency preparedness and response, providing countries with practical steps and examples to mobilize domestic resources for building preparedness capacity and having funds available for rapid response. I spoke with countries such as Argentina, Republic of Korea, Italy, Nigeria, and Thailand on how they have been able to use national plans, legislation, and innovative financing mechanisms to fight COVID-19 and invest in broader preparedness. What I learned was that there is not one “right” way to invest in health security, but there are certain mechanisms that are extremely important to have in place. These conversations also brought me optimism, as one of the biggest challenges noted in the past was that Ministries of Finance and other leaders outside of health often failed to see the value or return on investment of preparedness. Now, with the economic impact of COVID-19 reaching unseen proportions, the return on investment of preparedness and prevention versus response is clear. While my time supporting these global initiatives has come to an end, I look forward to seeing how countries use the COVID-19 pandemic to make the case for investment in preparedness, not just response and economic recovery.
My practicum was also a great reminder that while the world is currently focused on COVID-19, it is by no means the only public health threat we are facing. I also spent much of my practicum researching global progress on antimicrobial resistance, and providing recommendations for future multilateral commitments to ensure that we can continue to make progress towards addressing it. More broadly, we are also seeing how COVID-19 is affecting the delivery of childhood immunizations and life-saving medicines for diseases such as HIV, TB, and malaria, and it will be important to not lose sight of these other global health challenges as we combat COVID-19. I believe there has never been a more important time to be pursuing careers in public health, and I look forward to returning to campus shortly to continue to build my knowledge and technical skills to further health security.
– Kirsten