Being prepared for a pandemic

What is a pandemic?

A pandemic is a communicable disease outbreak that occurs over a large geographical area and across international borders and affects a significantly large proportion of the world’s population.

Pandemics impact public health, as well as social and economic activities. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many sectors including the education, finance, hospitality, and real estate sectors when public health and social measures such as travel and movement restrictions, quarantine, and isolation were instituted.

What is the threat of pandemics to Singapore?

If a disease outbreak epidemic is not contained, limited, or slowed within a geographical region like a country or continent, it may evolve into a pandemic.

Urbanisation and climate change can significantly influence how fast a disease spreads. Urbanisation could disrupt habitats and increase interactions between humans and animals, which also increases the risk of animal-to-human disease transmission. Concurrently, climate change could disrupt ecological balance and make conditions more conducive for diseases to spread by favouring the reproduction of vectors.

In addition, Singapore is an international travel hub with a high population density. This makes it vulnerable to the importation and transmission of new and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Why is pandemic preparedness important?

Being prepared for a pandemic is important as it helps (a) reduce the spread of infectious diseases, illnesses, and deaths, (b) minimise impacts on our healthcare systems, and (c) mitigate social and economic disruptions caused by disease outbreaks. Enhancing pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response is an ongoing effort and remains a crucial national priority.

Future pandemics may be different from what we have experienced. For example, COVID-19 strategies and measures were different from SARS and MERS. Therefore, pandemic preparedness and response needs an agile and modular approach to cover both known and unknown disease threats using a combination of public health, medical, and social measures to manage disease outbreaks.

Why is system resilience important?

System resilience is crucial for pandemic preparedness as it ensures health infrastructures, supply chains, and essential services can withstand and adapt to disruptions.

A resilient system can quickly respond to, mitigate, and recover swiftly from disease outbreaks. This adaptability safeguards public health, maintains social and economic stability, and reduces a pandemic’s strain on society.

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