ARIZONA, United States – To prevent future pandemics, doctors and experts called for support for the World Health Organization and for countries with poor public health infrastructure.

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant said there was a need to funnel money to the international community and the WHO to stop another global health crisis. Brilliant helped eradicate smallpox and was also involved in the battle against polio.

“There is another saying that public health is nothing because we succeed when nothing happens. How much will you pay to have no fires happen, no burglaries? In order for us to be able to do our job so that nothing bad happens, we need to re-investigate, re-instill, and re-fund public health infrastructure, not just in the US,” Brilliant said on Thursday, April 23, during the virtual summit TIME 100 Talks: Finding Hope.

“If we’re talking about pandemics, because it begins anywhere around the world, we need to support WHO. We need to look at the countries with failed states, that have insufficient health care systems, and exist in what we call hotspots….This is not the time to think we can stop only in San Francisco or New York, we need to be good citizens on a global basis,” he said.

Physician and public health advocate Leana Wen said public health is usually the first casualty on the chopping block.

“I don’t think we need new infrastructure but rather more investment on public health. To make public health visible, there is a need to be at the table for every decision,” Wen said.

“I hope we won’t be complacent afterwards, that we will look at the lessons of widespread testing, aggressive social distancing measures, active contract tracing,” she said, adding there is also a need for the US to look into historical inequalities and racial discrimination.

Brilliant said there is a need to be “realistic” and plan for a 3- to 5-year period. He cautioned against solely relying on the creation of a vaccine.

“If we don’t plan, we’re giving ourselves false targets. Pandemics are not date-driven, but event-driven.”

In the same summit, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is “not overly confident” with the US’ testing capability for the novel coronavirus.

As of April 22, the US has more than 800,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, with more than 45,000 deaths. – Rappler.com