China News Service, Beijing, March 30 (Reporter Li Chun) "There is no need to panic. I think the term 'X disease' is to 'create alarm'." In a recent exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service, Tsinghua University Vanke Public Health and Zhu Jiming, associate professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Health, pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) recently mentioned "Disease X" again in the hope that the international community will remain vigilant against possible new infectious disease pandemics in the future.
From this year’s World Economic Forum setting up a sub-forum related to “Disease “Disease
The English letter X has the meaning of "unknown". "Disease X" is not a specific disease, but represents an infectious disease caused by an unknown pathogen that may lead to a global pandemic. Its main characteristics are "high lethality, rapid contagion, and easy mutation." There is great uncertainty in its occurrence and development. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the pathogen of "Disease X" as well as its occurrence time and location.
Back in 2018, the WHO adopted the term "Disease X". According to reports, a number of scientific studies have since used this concept in order to develop tools to prevent, detect and respond to the spread of "Disease X" in the future. Zhu Jiming believes that the proposal of this concept is strategically forward-looking. In a sense, COVID-19 is a kind of "Disease X", and the future mentioned by the WHO in 2018 has already arrived.
Regarding some people who believe that the "X disease" is "creating panic" and "unfounded worries," Zhu Jiming also pointed out that the WHO has recently re-emphasized "X disease" in the hope that in the post-epidemic era, the international community will be more concerned about the next possible disease. We can still remain vigilant and proactively prepare for emerging infectious disease pandemics.
The occurrence of "Disease X" is inevitable, but the resulting pandemic can be prevented and responded to. Zhu Jiming believes that among a series of measures to strengthen the construction of the disease control system, innovative medical and prevention coordination and medical and prevention integration mechanisms are particularly important, and great efforts need to be made to straighten out relevant mechanisms, especially incentive mechanisms. Improving primary medical and health service capabilities is also an important revelation brought by the COVID-19 epidemic on a global scale. In addition, the new generation of artificial intelligence technology brings revolutionary breakthroughs. How to seize this opportunity to reshape the disease control system with technological empowerment and comprehensively improve disease control capabilities is also worth pondering.
Chinese officials also stated that preventing and responding to a global infectious disease pandemic requires joint efforts from the international community. China will actively participate in global public health governance and promote cooperation with international organizations such as the WHO and other countries.
Zhu Jiming said that to strengthen international cooperation in public health, "collaboration" and "integration" are still the key. All parties have been negotiating for a long time on the conclusion of the Pandemic Convention and the amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005). We look forward to seeing the latest progress in related work at the World Health Assembly to be held at the end of May this year. . (over)