Massive global failures in tackling Covid-19 led to millions of preventable deaths, says a Lancet Covid-19 Commission report, calling out the absence of international co-operation, even as it outlined solutions for future pandemics.

“The staggering human toll of the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic is a profound tragedy and a massive societal failure at multiple levels,” said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Chair of the Commission, University Professor at Columbia University (USA), and President of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

“We must face hard truths — too many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency; too many people have protested basic public health precautions, often influenced by misinformation; and too many nations have failed to promote global collaboration to control the pandemic,” he added. The report follows two years of work from 28 global experts including Sachs, Peter Hotez (involved with the Covid-19 vaccine eventually developed by Biological E) and India’s Srinath Reddy.

International cooperation

The report called for a reformed and bolstered World Health Organization (WHO), as well as investments and planning for national pandemic preparedness and strengthening of health systems, with attention to vulnerable populations.

Acknowledging areas of international cooperation, the report points to public-private partnerships that helped bring out multiple vaccines in record time (less than a year); actions of high-income countries to financially support households and businesses; and emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

“But the events of the past two years have also exposed multiple failures of global cooperation. Costly delays by WHO to declare a “public health emergency of international concern” and to recognise the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 coincided with national governments’ failure to cooperate and coordinate on travel protocols, testing strategies, commodity supply chains, data reporting systems, and other vital international policies to suppress the pandemic. The lack of cooperation among governments for the financing and distribution of key health commodities, including vaccines, personal protective equipment, and resources for vaccine development and production in low-income countries, has come at dire costs,” the report said.

Steps to end the pandemic

The report outlined steps to end the pandemic, get on track with the Sustainable Development Goals and prepare for future pandemics. They included supporting investments in resource-poor countries to strengthen primary care, universal health coverage, and disease control more generally.

The Commission estimated that around $60 billion would be required annually (0.1 per cent of the gross domestic product of high-income countries) to achieve these goals. It also recommended a 10-year effort by G20 countries to bolster research and investments in infrastructure and manufacturing capacity for pandemic control tools including testing, diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, and PPE, alongside training for health workers in low- and middle-income countries.

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