Collective concept of possible pathology - Golubovska on "disease X"
Kyiv • UNN
According to infectious disease specialist Olga Golubovska, "disease X" is a term for a potential pathology with pandemic potential.
"Disease X" doesn't exist yet. It is a collective term for a possible pathology that could cause a pandemic. The term is used to refer to a recently discovered pathogen or any known pathogen with recently acquired pandemic potential. This was reported by the chief infectious disease specialist of Ukraine, honored doctor, Professor Olga Golubovska, reports UNN.
Many people ask about disease X and the forum on it in Davos. I will try to be brief. Disease X does not exist yet. It is a collective term for a possible pathology that could cause a pandemic. The term was coined back in 2017, used to refer to a recently discovered pathogen or any known pathogen with recently acquired pandemic potential. I wrote about this a long time ago, including the pathogens under discussion
Golubovska noted that COVID-19 was the first disease X.
"And back in 2021, the WHO announced the risks of a new epidemic, a more deadly epidemic, we also talked about it a lot in the media. In fact, there were a whole series of statements earlier, even before Covid. We safely at this time killed systems to counter biological threats, i.e. preparedness," - said Golubovska.
Commenting on what to talk about at the economic forum, she emphasized that it is about encouraging countries to join the Pandemic Treaty by May 2024.
"That we should prepare to finance, fight misinformation and, most importantly, encourage countries to join the Pandemic Treaty, an international agreement that will unite countries to fight disease X, by May 2024. Getting a significant number of signatures from WHO member countries will not be easy, and has been fought over for more than a year. For example, there is a clear split in the US, where the Republican Party has openly opposed the agreement, saying that WHO will get additional powers, so much depends on the US elections. Pharmaceutical companies are also wary of the agreement and its stance on allowing waivers of intellectual property rights when circumstances warrant..." - Golubovska wrote.
She said lessons need to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid them in the future.
"All in all, don't panic just yet. Our task is to draw conclusions from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to avoid them in the future ... for unfortunately no one will do them for us ..." - she added.
Supplement
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreisus noted the importance of preparing for a new "disease X", expressing hope that countries will reach an agreement on a pandemic before May this year.