Rethinking pandemic preparedness in the Anthropocene

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Environmental Health
• One Health Approach

Background:

• The Anthropocene era presents complex social and ecological changes impacting pandemic preparedness.
• Current pandemic management strategies often rely on predicting specific threats, which is insufficient for novel or emergent diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reframe pandemic preparedness from prediction to coping with inevitable surprises.
• To highlight the need for a broader understanding of pandemic origins rooted in human-environment relationships.
• To advocate for transdisciplinary approaches and unified guidelines for enhanced pandemic resilience.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of pandemic preparedness in the context of the Anthropocene.
• Emphasis on understanding primordial risk determinants stemming from human-environment interactions.
• Proposal for cross-sectoral co-learning and the role of bridging agents within health agencies.

Main Results:

• Pandemics should be viewed as unpredictable infectious and non-communicable surprises rather than forecastable events.
• A hazard-by-hazard approach is inadequate; broad problem scoping is essential for deeper threat insights.
• Health leaders must recognize the influence of changing human-environment relationships on pandemic risk.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced pandemic resilience necessitates a paradigm shift towards anticipating and coping with surprises.
• Collaborative efforts focusing on the determinants of health for individuals, communities, and the environment are crucial.
• Transdisciplinary intelligence gathering and unified guidelines are vital for effective pandemic response in the Anthropocene.