Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: Some people are accusing China of being the source of the spread of the epidemic. In fact, the accusation is useless and not true. What we really need to do is to calm down and cooperate with the Chinese government to understand the epidemic and try our best to ensure that the epidemic will not come back. China itself does not want to see the outbreak, nor should it be held responsible for it.
How to evaluate the Chinese experience and the American experience in epidemic prevention and control? How to deal with the "viral origin conspiracy theory" and "responsibility theory" that appear frequently?
In the "News 1 + 1" program on May 1, Bai Yansong interviewed Richard Houghton, editor-in-chief of the international leading medical journal "The Lancet", in response to public concerns.
1. How does the editor of "The Lancet" view the original decision to "close the city" in Wuhan, China?
Bai Yansong: Today (May 1) is a very important day for Chinese people to remember, because of the epidemic in Wuhan, "closing the city" for 100 days. After such a long time, what do you think of China's original decision?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: The Chinese government's decision to block Wuhan is very decisive in the face of emergencies. By blocking Wuhan, China can give the world time to respond to the epidemic. This is not only a correct decision, but also to other The country showed how they should respond to the emergency threat of the epidemic. So I think we should thank China for its efforts in fighting the epidemic in Wuhan.
2. On February 20, "The Lancet" published an article saying that the virus is not from nature. Why?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: As the Director General of the World Health Organization said, we have been fighting two outbreaks in recent months, one caused by viruses and the second caused by false information. The impact of false information in many cases is as severe as the epidemic caused by the virus.
The "viral conspiracy theory" you mentioned is unfavorable to fight against the epidemic. We must understand the origin of the virus and study it with a scientific attitude. We must not let such conspiracy theories disturb our thinking. The negative effects caused by this conspiracy theory The impact is very serious.
3. The editor of "The Lancet" responds to "Conspiracy Theory of Virus Origin"
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: On a level, many of these claims are ridiculous, but we must also pay attention to them. There is a study on false information in the EU, which is a bit scary. For example, some people say that future vaccination is dangerous, or that the epidemic is caused by the media, or that the virus does not pose a threat to people. Therefore, we must pay attention to these rumors and prove that the rumors are wrong. Unfortunately, in some media reports now, such rumors spread like viruses and affect people, causing harm to people. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate rumors while preventing and controlling the spread of the virus.
4. Is it meaningful to look for patient number zero?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: I do n’t think it ’s very meaningful to look for patient number zero. For example, when the AIDS outbreak occurred in the 1980s, many people wanted to find AIDS patient No. 0, who was the super spreader of the virus spreading in the United States, and spent a lot of effort to find patient No. 0. At that time, people thought that patient No. 0 had been found. This person was widely discussed after being exposed by the media, but many years later it was discovered that this person was not patient No. 0. So finding this person who has spread the virus may cause a lot of problems, such as stigmatization and discrimination against him, and it will not play any role, and it is definitely unscientific.
But it is important to understand the origin of this virus and know where it came from. This virus is likely to spread from an animal host to humans. We need to understand the process of virus transmission between animals, and how to spread the virus from animals to humans, and to avoid the transmission of this virus from animals to humans. The goal now is to understand where the viruses produced in animals come from, and to reduce the risk of virus transmission from animals to humans. The important thing is not to look for patient number zero but to understand the origin of the virus.
5. The accusation that China is the source of communication is useless and untrue
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: Unfortunately, we heard this statement. Some people are accusing China of being the source of the spread of the epidemic. In fact, the accusation is useless and not true. What we really need to do is to calm down and cooperate with the Chinese government to understand the epidemic and try our best to ensure that the epidemic will not come back. China itself does not want to see the outbreak, nor should it be held responsible for it. But things have happened, and the Chinese doctors and scientists I have learned have made the most outstanding contributions. They advise the government, treat patients, and protect the lives of Chinese citizens. So I think China should be very proud, because China has a very good scientific research and medical staff.
Some world political leaders have criticized China as unfair, and in fact it is wrong. We should thank the Chinese doctors and scientists who fought against the epidemic.
6. On January 30, the WHO has issued the highest level warning, but it seems that many people have not listened carefully. Why?
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: This is one of the unsolved mysteries in the spread of the epidemic. The World Health Organization defined the epidemic as an international public health emergency on January 30, which is to the world The warning issued reminded the world to pay attention to the epidemic. Dr. Tan Desai mentioned the spread of this virus, so that everyone is ready.
The early warning mechanism for international public health emergencies is an innovative mechanism that was established in 2005. The cause was the SARS outbreak that broke out from 2002 to 2003. After the SARS outbreak, the world paid more attention to the impact of the epidemic, so an early warning mechanism was introduced. The World Health Organization is the most important authority in the global health field, and we need to heed the WHO ’s warnings. Unfortunately, many countries do not pay attention to early warning, causing tens of thousands of deaths, and this situation could have been avoided.
7. Failure to learn from SARS is a human tragedy
Horton, editor in chief of The Lancet: The SARS outbreak that occurred between 2002 and 2003 has actually spread to some Western countries, such as Canada. When the virus spread to Toronto, the World Health Organization also issued an early warning. In the past generation, we have understood the risks of the transnational spread of the virus. After the SARS epidemic ended 17 years ago, countries around the world promised to change the way they respond to future epidemics. They promised to attach great importance to the outbreak.
But in fact, the recent outbreak of the new crown epidemic shows that we have not learned from it and failed to realize the danger of the virus. This is a tragedy, and this is a real catastrophe for mankind.
8. Why is the editor-in-chief of The Lancet known as the "chief critic" of the British government?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: I criticized the British government's epidemic prevention and control measures. In fact, I criticized not only the British government, but also the United States and many European countries. Because "The Lancet" published 5 articles in the last week of January, these 5 articles described the spread of the epidemic in the past few months to Western countries in detail, these 5 articles described the characteristics of this new virus, For example, it is fatal and is related to the SARS virus. The number of deaths is increasing. Some infection cases require a ventilator to enter the intensive care unit. At present, there is no treatment, and there are cases of human-to-human transmission. The article mentions the importance of using protective measures and mentions that virus detection, contact tracing, and quarantine of infected persons are required to control the epidemic. At the same time, it also warned the virus of the risk of an outbreak.
In the last week of January, we have learned about these situations, but most Western countries such as the United States have wasted the entire February and early March. This is the tragedy of artificially caused new coronary pneumonia. Due to the cooperation between Chinese doctors and scientists and world scientists, we got the information in January, but somehow other countries in the world did not pay attention to this information.
9. Is the UK's epidemic prevention now on the right path?
Houghton, editor in chief of The Lancet: I think Britain is on the right path now. I saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson's speech outside 10 Downing Street on Monday and I can see that he has changed a lot. I don't think he knew how serious the virus was or how threatened the United Kingdom was before he became ill. Johnson really faced his life after being infected with the virus. He now knows the severity of the virus.
I believe that the UK is on the right path now. We have a national blockade and pay attention to keeping the distance between people. I believe that the United Kingdom will learn from the blockade in Wuhan, hoping to continue such isolation in May, and then gradually gradually return to normal. I am very happy to see that we have taken the right measures. Unfortunately, it took a long time to finally make the right decision.
10. What does the editor-in-chief of The Lancet think China can share with the world in the national defense epidemic?
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: China ’s experience is a quick and decisive decision. This is for a reason. China has experience in dealing with the SARS virus. At that time, SARS suddenly hit, and the whole of China was caught off guard. I think the Chinese government is determined to make changes after the SARS epidemic. Over the past 20 years, China has made huge investments in hospitals and health systems. The Chinese government has also invested a lot in some universities and scientific research. So when the new crown epidemic occurred in December last year, China had such scientific research capabilities and medical resources to cope with the epidemic. At the same time, he also has political capabilities. Because China understands that the epidemic is similar to the SARS virus and poses a great threat to Chinese society, it makes a decisive decision.
Western European countries do not think this is a virus similar to SARS, but similar to influenza. We think that this epidemic is at most another wave of influenza, and we do not pay attention to this danger. We think that influenza is not a very serious disease. This virus can spread among people and protect us after being immunized by domestic groups, but In fact, this is a serious judgment error. China is right, we are wrong.
11. Differentiating various countries and people cannot effectively deal with the epidemic
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: I greatly appreciate the level of scientific and medical development in the United States. Their doctors and scientists have done a very good job in responding to the epidemic. For example, Anthony Fu, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Qi, as well as Dr. Deborah Burkes, they are all outstanding researchers.
What disappoints me is that American politicians, such as advocating conspiracy theories, or supporting some treatments without clear evidence, also openly criticized other countries, such as the United States for criticizing China, or some organizations, such as the World Health Organization. This approach is useless. What we should do is to strengthen cooperation to meet the challenges posed by the epidemic. Differentiating various countries and peoples cannot effectively deal with this threat to all mankind.
12. Thanks to all medical staff for their contributions
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: Over the past three months, we have realized that the medical workers fighting the epidemic on the front lines are the backbone of morality. They are invisible contributors. We have not seen nurses and doctors on the streets. They Work in a hospital or clinic. We are very grateful to them. They work in some very dangerous areas. The virus is unpredictable and deadly. Sometimes they do n’t have enough protective measures. They are devoting themselves to saving lives and protecting patients. They have done very successfully. .
I think all countries need to thank these medical staff for their contributions. They are also continuing to fight the epidemic. We need to respect medical staff more and pay more attention to them. They are a very important part of society. We need to thank them for their contributions.
13. China's scientific development is already the world's leading level
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: China is now a major scientific country. We did not receive many submissions from Chinese authors 20 years ago, but now China is one of the leaders in submitting scientific papers to the Lancet series of journals . It is difficult to select papers. The selection criteria is to evaluate which papers have the most impact on the global audience.
China ’s scientific development is already at the world ’s leading level. Many of China ’s scientific researches are related to global audiences. China has very good global scientific research institutions and leaders in the scientific community. This is due to the Chinese government ’s Investment in scientific research is a very important factor that has contributed to China's success in this epidemic.
14. How to treat the shelter hospital?
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: The shelter hospital is one of the most important innovations in China's successful response to the epidemic. The establishment of temporary huge shelter hospitals in some existing buildings allows mild patients to enter In the sheltered hospital, someone takes care of them and establishes a triage system. If the condition gets worse, the patient will be referred to another hospital. This is a very good innovative idea. First, it can protect other hospitals and prevent patients from flooding into these hospitals; second, it can provide space for a large number of patients to see doctors, and can effectively isolate these patients in such sheltered hospitals and provide them with a safe space.
I think this is a very important factor for China's success in combating the epidemic and an important experience that other countries in the world can learn from.
15. The editor of "The Lancet" responded to the statement "You should first aid people instead of publishing a paper"
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: This is not a question of choice. In the past three months, Chinese doctors and scientists have actually taken care of both, summing up experience while treating the disease on the front line. Their talk of experience published in scientific journals should not only be regarded as a paper in a journal, but as a way to communicate with the world. If there is no paper that China has been publishing from January until yesterday, we will not have a reliable knowledge base to better understand how to respond to the epidemic.
So we are very grateful to Chinese doctors and scientists for the papers published based on their work, so that the world can better understand the information. This reflects China's responsible attitude, that is, to become friends in other countries, to tell and share their experiences, and to help other countries understand the severity of the epidemic. We must express our gratitude to Chinese doctors and scientists. They can take the time to do these things, and China can tell what they are doing, which is a success in itself.
16. Incorporating China into global medical scientific research is a very important goal after the outbreak
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: China is not considered a big country in the field of medicine and medical science, but this epidemic does reflect China's advantages. I hope that after this epidemic, more countries will recognize China's contribution to the epidemic. China accounts for one-fifth of the world's population, so it has a heavy responsibility to protect and improve the health of this part of the population. I think China has been doing this for the past two decades, especially in the past two to three months.
I want to emphasize again that the most important thing in dealing with the epidemic is the cooperation between countries. We need to work with Chinese colleagues to include them in global medical scientific research. This is a very important goal after the epidemic.
17. The discussion about the epidemic should not be interpreted as part of the national geopolitical struggle
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: I regret that the discussion on the epidemic was finally interpreted as part of the national geopolitical struggle. In fact, this should not be the case. New coronary pneumonia is a threat to human health We need to work together to deal with this threat. I do n’t want to see accusations against the country, which is of no benefit to disease prevention and control, let alone promote peace and development, and accusations cannot stop the epidemic. On the contrary, we need to sit down and work together to trust each other in order to solve the problems we face together.
I am very sorry that some political leaders have issued such criticisms, which is why I would like to publicly thank my group of Chinese colleagues and friends here for their contributions in Chinese medical work and medical science. They have paid too much , We need to say thank you formally. They should not be criticized, but deserve our gratitude. This is the most important point I want to emphasize.
18. What is the role of "Lancet" in the epidemic?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: We want to publish the best scientific papers in the world, and we also want to be a platform that not only publishes scientific papers, but also helps to bring about change and improve the health of people around the world. Therefore, it is very important for us to become a channel to nurture world-class scientific work and help it land and change the world. Therefore, it is important for us to listen to the voices of friends around the world, cooperate with them friendly, and help They tell their science stories to the world. So our job is to collaborate, collaborate, listen, and work together to push research results to the widest possible population.
I have worked in "The Lancet" for 25 years as editor-in-chief, and have the privilege of working with talented scientists from all over the world. We have a great scientific community. I want to show this group to the world. Every day in promoting human health and welfare The contribution made, in short, is the work of The Lancet.
19. What will happen to the world's public health after the epidemic?
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: After every major event, such as this epidemic, the world will change. But frankly, is it better or worse? This is not yet known, but in general there are two paths: one path is better cooperation, countries can work together and help each other, and other countries can understand the health status of Chinese residents, which will affect my family and me. Health, my health will affect your health, we are interdependent, we must sit together to solve problems, this is one way; another way is to split, not cooperate, and damage those organizations that respect cooperation , Thinking that he can solve the problem alone, does not need cooperation.
The two roads in this epidemic present a sharp contrast. At the moment of our conversation, I still don't know which road the world will take after the epidemic is over, which is the road of cooperation? Or is it a split road? It depends on the joint efforts of all of us, showing that the path of cooperation is the path we firmly follow, and all humankind must move towards cooperation. I hope China can make a strong voice to support the world on the road to cooperation.
20. China should think about how to allow medical research leaders to participate more in international affairs
Houghton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: Over the past two decades, China has made huge investments in health care and science, but in these international conferences around the world I attended, I did not feel that I saw enough Chinese representatives at the conference or event. I hope to see more Chinese scientists and leaders in the medical community active on the world stage. China accounts for one-fifth of the world's population, but does the Chinese representative account for one-fifth of the world's important international activities, especially those that will affect the future direction of the world? not at all.
Therefore, I think that in the next stage, Chinese leaders should think about how to enable Chinese medical and medical research leaders to participate more in international affairs. I hope to see some Chinese who I know, I respect, I love, and I admire, can play a more important role in the world, I hope to hear more Chinese voices in international affairs, Hear China ’s stronger voice and play a more important role on the world stage. It is hoped that one of the results of this epidemic will enable China to have a stronger voice.
21. How long will the epidemic end in the world?
Horton, editor-in-chief of "The Lancet": What we know about Wuhan now, the blockade is from January 23 to early April, which is about 10 weeks. At present, the spread of this virus in Wuhan has been completely eliminated. The epidemic will end after the ten-week blockade. There may be a risk of the epidemic rebounding. The only thing that can prevent the epidemic from rebounding is the vaccine, which can immunize everyone and protect everyone in the future.
We must now maintain some protective measures, such as keeping the distance between the crowds, paying attention to personal hygiene, washing hands frequently, and not facing others when coughing, so we can prevent the epidemic from rebounding. In the next six to twelve months, we are likely to have a vaccine developed, then this time next year, we may start to inject this vaccine so that everyone can be truly protected.
22. The epidemic makes people value each other more
Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet: Thank you very much for your concern. I'm in a small room at home. I'm also in self-isolation. I have been self-isolating since the end of March, maybe in the next three to five weeks Continue to isolate yourself. On the one hand, this kind of feeling is very strange. I ca n’t go to work or meet friends, but on the other hand, this is also an opportunity for me to think and reflect on the significance of this epidemic. I can also communicate with my colleagues in The Lancet every day. This outbreak caused a very interesting effect, that is, it brought us closer to each other. During the quarantine, everyone will work harder to get closer to each other.
It can be said that we work harder to understand each other and treat others with kindness. This is a very strange result caused by the epidemic. It is true that we must isolate ourselves at home, but in fact our hearts are closer and we value each other more than before the epidemic. I hope this result can be maintained forever and people value each other more.