Animesh Roul, Executive Director, Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, New Delhi, engaged in a conversation with Priti Patnaik, the Founding Editor of Geneva Health Files (GHF). The discussion centred around the proposed pandemic treaty and the principal challenges that lie ahead for this treaty.

"I do not think a pandemic treaty is a good response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing in the WHO-sponsored negotiation process so far has changed my perspective," says global health expert David P. Fidler, Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the author of "A New U.S.

A very passionate debate is ongoing in India on the relevance and effectiveness of Allopathy and Ayurveda, two different (modern and traditional) branches of medicine. In respect of Covid-19 handling, there was an attempt to debunk the relevance of allopathic treatment. In response to this, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), an NGO, has taken a very aggressive stance and stood against demeaning allopathy.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that had left many governments scrambling towards lockdowns and led to a massive failure of numerous public sectors worldwide, especially in the US, the public health crisis is now about to become a phase of the past. Vaccines against the novel coronavirus made harnessing cutting edge m-RNA techniques are being developed by national and international teams of scientists at a breakneck pace never seen before. Amidst all the gloom caused by the virus, these vaccines have finally emerged as the silver lining in the darkest cloud.

Within weeks of its emergence in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Hubei province) in late December 2019, the novel Coronavirus has engulfed 213 countries and territories worldwide. Now infamous as Covid-19 Pandemic, the contagion has already killed over 850000 people (as of August 28, 2020). It not only poses significant risks to our physical and fiscal security (economy and public health)  but presents a substantial threat to our national security. It is imperative and urgent for Nation-states to manage this health risk effectively.

Disasters are defined as severe disruptions in the routine functioning of society due to adverse events which cause serious harm to lives and livelihoods, economy, environment, and social and cultural resources. Based on this definition, the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19 qualifies as a ‘disaster.’ Though COVID 19 has not caused damage to property or infrastructure, it has claimed many lives and created a serious disruption in the functioning of the society, thereby affecting almost everyone across the world.