Preparing for the next pandemic

Experts are set to talk about strategies that worked and policies that stuttered during this pandemic.

In the early days of Covid-19, as scientists around the world scrambled to decode the 'mystery' virus, misinformation spread faster than the disease. In WhatsApp messages, our uncles and aunts shared how Chinese labs hatched the disease or how the disease was a billionaires’ ploy to earn money. We also received news of instant cures—even when vaccine and medicine trials had not started anywhere. As people burned 5G towers across Europe , we sat with raised eyebrows. While these baseless rumours or crazy conspiracy theories should bring chuckles, they harmed people. In many areas, people drank sanitisers and tried different methods of cure that cost them their lives . In many countries, health misinformation was combined with xenophobia; minorities became convenient scapegoats for government failures.