THE FUTURE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Q&A WITH DR. MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM BY DR. DANIEL ZIMMERMAN
Daniel Zimmerman, MD Sr. VP & Chief Science Officer RGA Chesterfield, MO dzimmerman@rgare.com
Michael T. Osterholm, MD, PhD Minneapolis, MN
What is (are) the greatest or most important lesson(s) we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic? I think there are two. The first is that no matter what technology is brought to the table, if the public doesn’t trust it or buy into it, we’re really challenged. We’re seeing this with vaccines and drug therapies. We have to understand the power of science is greatly limited if we can’t get the public to use the technology. The second is the importance and power of trust. We live in a difficult world – one in which trust in science and public health has lessened. The old ways of provid- ing recommendations, and then the public following through, are seriously compromised, and this new lack of trust in public health will be a major challenge moving forward. Are we now in a better position to deal with future pandemics? Unfortunately, I think we’re in worse shape. Not only because there is such a high level of distrust of public health, but also, we never conducted a lessons-learned study to prepare for the future. We will need new and additional technologies for a future pandemic. Current vaccines are good, but not great. Work is proceeding on that research, but still, little investment is going into it. Depending on political outcomes in the US, there could be a 50% reduction in CDC and NIH budgets, as well as efforts to side - line those leading future pandemic responses. I can’t imagine what the impact of these actions would be. Additionally, disease surveillance may be more com - promised now than at any time in the past. Despite wastewater surveillance technology, we are still not quite sure how to interpret those results, plus funds are being cut to support this technology. We have also seen the gutting of public health institutions, and a significant number of people have left those
Executive Summary While the worst of the COV- ID-19 pandemic is over, we must remain vigilant in monitoring ongoing infectious disease risks. These include the potential of another pandemic, as well as other infectious challenges related to climate change and nefarious human activity. It benefits underwriters and their companies to keep up-to-date with emerging infectious disease risks and take these risks into account when as- sessing cases. Additionally, given the degree to which international travel has rebounded, poten- tial infectious exposures in different geographies must be kept in mind. Globally recognized epide- miologist Dr. Michael T. Osterholm is Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Founder and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. He has long been a knowledgeable and influential voice in the highly complex field of public health. I recently sat down with Dr. Osterholm to gain his perspective on several key issues impacting the world and our industry. institutions. Globally, we are also seeing funding for surveillance being cut. What is currently keeping you up at night? I worry based on this week, this year and this decade. They all have different implications. As mentioned, I don’t believe we’re at all prepared for the next pan - demic. Our group has been very actively involved in developing influenza and coronavirus vaccine road - maps, and we’re making progress, but we have a long way to go. We don’t yet have correlative protection testing in the lab for these vaccines. My immediate near-future worry is the potential for funding cuts to our public health institutions, such as the CDC and
ON THE RISK vol.40 n.3 (2024)
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