November 20, 2023
Centre needed for next pandemic
Infectious disease experts are calling for a Centre for Disease Control to prepare the country for future pandemics and to help address Māori health inequities.
Otago University Professor Michael Baker says while New Zealand’s response to the Covid pandemic was world leading, achieving the lowest mortality of virtually any country, it was also very costly.
The centre would also be able to tackle other problems such as congenital syphilis among newborns, high rates of rheumatic fever and other infectious diseases, especially those affecting Māori and Pacific peoples.
“We know the treaty partnership and elements of co-governance will be essential if we are going to solve these problems and reduce these inequities and I think everyone working in this sector is aware of that, and co-design, we have to work with communities as partners in identifying and managing these problems better,” Professor Baker says.
Most other countries have such facilities after the system proved very effective in Taiwan, and Australia is developing its CDC.
Professor Baker says New Zealand couldn’t afford to have all the scientist in one institution so efficiency would be gained by having core systems in a center and nodes around the country where scientists doing other work would be coordinated by the CDC.
He expects the idea to be one of the things in the mix when the Royal Commission reports back on how to manage pandemics better next year and hopes the incoming Government will be open to the idea.