Britain’s former chief scientific adviser warns ‘we are not ready yet’ and urges the next government to prepare
Patrick Vallance says another pandemic is “absolutely inevitable”.
Britain’s former chief scientific adviser warns ‘we are not ready yet’ and urges the next government to prepare
UK Politics Live – Latest Updates
lucy knight
Saturday 25 May 2024 at 14.49 GMT
Involved
The government’s former chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said another pandemic was “absolutely inevitable” and urged the incoming UK government to focus on preparing for it, warning: “We are not ready yet.”
Speaking at an event at the Hay Festival in Powys, Vallance said, “It’s great that we’re having an election” because “there are clearly issues that need to be resolved”. He said one of the things the next government should do is implement “better surveillance” so you can catch these things.
He also reiterated what he told G7 leaders in 2021, which is that “we need to be much faster and more united – and there are many ways to do that – faster diagnostic testing, faster vaccines, Getting treatment fast, so you can do that.” “We do not have to ignore the strict measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vallance believes the measures he suggests are practical, but “require some coordination.”
He said that by 2023, the G7 will “kind of forget” the points they made in 2021. “You can’t forget this,” he urged, suggesting that pandemic preparedness should be treated the same way as the armed forces.
He said, “We know we must have an army, not because there will be a war this year, but we know it is a vital part of what we need as a nation.” “We need to treat this preparation in the same way and not see it as something that is easy to continue to reduce when there is no sign of an epidemic – because there will be no sign of an epidemic.”
He pointed to the World Health Organization’s push for a pandemic accord, a proposed agreement for countries to work together to prepare for pandemics, as one of the “steps in the right direction.” “But I don’t think there’s enough focus,” he said. If the issue were left off the G7 and G20 agenda, “we would be in exactly the same position, and I hope that would be an important outcome of the investigation.”
However, he said there were some issues with the speed and efficiency of how investigations are conducted, and said we “have to find a better way” to do them.
Although Vallance believes it is election time, he praised the anti-smoking bill introduced by the outgoing government and said he was disappointed it would not pass before the election. “I guess I should pick it up quickly.”
Asked whether protesters should be allowed to play “Things can only get better” during Rishi Sunak’s speech outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, he said he believed such The protests were “part of our democracy” and the decision not to do so was Sunak and his team’s. Find a location. Because the speech in which it was possible to hear it is “a sign of incompetence.”
“The chaos that accompanied this incident was symbolic,” he said.
However, he believes that some protest activities go too far. Vallance is president of the Natural History Museum, and said he believed the incident of paint being thrown at an exhibit was a “mistake”, and if Just Stop Oil protesters had managed to damage Magna Carta earlier this month Had it been there, it would have been a big mistake and also a mistake.
