National Covid-19 Commission.

I AM proposing the setting up of a 'National Covid-19 Commission'. Why? The rearview mirror is an important metaphor for learning and planning. 'We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror.' It can be lifesaving.

Challenges do bring opportunities, only if they are taken.

A splintered world, a battered economy, human suffering, losses, some accounted for and mostly unrecognised - it will take a very long time to recover. Notwithstanding the damage done, we can build back better to be more prepared and resilient the next time around.

I propose the setting up of a national commission on Covid-19 as somebody who had an opportunity to set up and lead the national response during the first two waves. I know where we stood and what we went through. Despite all the hard work, had the situation been anywhere near what we saw in some Western countries, we would have been ruined. Covid-19 is still not over as a global pandemic. The virus is mutating and this is not the only virus that can cause the next global pandemic.

We can build back better to be more prepared and resilient the next time around.

Bill Gates' new book How to Prevent the Next Pandemic and based on it his recent TED talk are something to read and listen to. He says that '...even though Covid-19 isn't totally behind us, this is the right time to be discussing how the world can make sure no one ever has to live through anything like this again'. He has proposed a three-pronged strategy at the global level. One, establishing a 'Global Epidemic Response and Mobilisation' (GERM) team of 3,000 full-time professionals to pick up early warning signals and nip in the bud any epidemic rearing its head anywhere in the world within the first 100 days. He says that if the Covid-19 pandemic had been curtailed in the first 100 days, the world could have avoided 98 per cent of the deaths. Two, promoting R and D for new and more effective tools to diagnose and control diseases - for example, vaccine patches and the much cheaper, easy-to-do but equally effective alternatives to PCR tests. Three, investing in strengthening health systems to become more resilient and responsive as they are the bedrock on which any public health emergency response is built and sustained. IMF estimates the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic to be $14 trillion. To avoid such an economic disaster in the future, spending a few billions on health systems is worth a deal.

The Lancet Covid-19 Commission has also been set...