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This summary draws from a commentary featured on Health Policy Watch. Read the full article here.
The global fight against malaria, polio, and COVID-19 reveals that health equity, community-informed public health interventions, and sustained political will are the cornerstones of both disease elimination and future pandemic preparedness. Neglecting unfinished battles against malaria and polio - both age-old diseases - risks undermining future public health efforts. A forward‑looking agenda must therefore focus on strengthening health systems to ensure marginalised and last‑mile communities are reached, adapting interventions to local realities, and sustaining political commitment beyond moments of crisis, thereby strengthening resilience against both existing diseases and those yet to emerge.
These lessons were explored in a discussion between Dr. Sarthak Das, Chief Executive Officer of APLMA; Aidan O’Leary, Director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at the World Health Organization; and Shekhar Mehta, President of Rotary International - who collectively reflected on insights from the global fight against malaria and polio, as well as more recent experiences from the COVID‑19 pandemic, to inform how the world should tackle existing and future health threats.
