The BMJ has demonstrated, once again, the courage of its conviction to dispose its ‘Triple-A Process’ on the UK Government’s handling of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ and denominated in a ‘Wake-up Call’ [1]! The ‘BMJ Position’, of course, does not reflect a ‘Unanimous Disposition’ [2] on the ‘Extant Conversation’ but clearly highlights the ‘Path to the Future’ in the ‘Fight’ against the ‘World’s Greatest Unprecedented Unseen Enemy’! Being a ‘Novel Coronavirus Disease’, the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ caught virtually ALL Governments in the World completely ‘Off-guard, Unprepared and Programmatically Paralyzed’ in their ‘Pandemic Interventions’! The UK Government is not extricated from this ‘Generic Disposition’ and this is the ‘Truth/ Fact’ amplified by the ‘BMJ Position’!! The UK Government was the ‘Arrowhead’ of the ‘4-Point Approach’ to tackling the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’: Contain Delay, Research and Mitigate! This ‘Intervention Strategy’ was criticized for not including ‘Public Health Intervention’ for a predominantly ‘Public Health Scourge’!! It is doubtful how effectively the ‘WHO Standards for Containment’ were, in fact, implemented: Finding, Testing, Treating and Isolation!
The fact of being a ‘Novel Coronavirus Disease’ was the ‘Arrowhead of Unpreparedness’ in mounting timeously ‘Appropriate Interventions’ against the ‘SARS-CoV-2’ and the disease caused: ‘COVID-19’! The ‘Politics’ of the ‘Virus Origin’, ‘Virus Nomenclature’ and ‘Disease Nomenclature’ also conjointly mitigated against any ability or capacity of any Government to mount ‘Appropriate Interventions’ against the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’. Indeed, the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Information’ is remarkably still ‘Work In Progress’ and ‘Information in a Flux’! Much more is ‘Unknown and Uncertain’ about the ‘SARS-CoV-2’ and ‘COVID-19’ as increasingly much more is transmuting daily concerning the ‘Pandemic Information and Specifics’! This scenario creates ‘Pandemic Information Lacunae’ and since ‘Nature abhors Vacuum’, the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ finds its ‘Locus’ confounding further any ‘Appropriateness and Adequacy’ of ‘Articulated Pandemic Interventions’; The ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ includes, among others: Misinformation, Disinformation, Myths, Memes, Rumours, Unscientific Claims, Misleading Communication, Information Toxicity, Misinterpreted Data, Downplayed Data, Inappropriately Contextualized Concepts, Politically-influenced Information, ‘Various and Varied Conspiracy Theories’ etc!
‘Politics’ has been another ‘Confounding Determinant’ which has remarkably compromised and polluted the Science, Facts and Evidence of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ regarding several ‘Aspects’: The ‘Published Pandemic Data/ Computer Scientific Models Projected Data, Drugs in Clinical Trials, Candidate Vaccines in Various Phases of Clinical Trials, Diagnostic and Screening Tests in Use, Convalescent Serum and Antibodies Testing Tools etc! This further grows the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ with compromised ‘Data Integrity and Reliability’ and increasingly eroded ‘Principles and Ethos’ of ‘Clinical Governance’ and ‘Research Governance’!! Some Governments are ‘Controlling’ the ‘Foundational Pillars’ of ‘Clinical Governance’ and ‘Research Governance’ with the resultant ‘Collapse of the Foundational Pillars’ of ‘Data Governance’ still further worsening the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’.
The UK ‘Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE)’ appears not to be spared the possible ‘Political Coloration’ in its ‘Work Output’ in the ‘Fight’ against the ‘Unprecedented Pandemic’! This, in fact, gave birth to the ‘Independent SAGE’ to assure ‘Politics-free Pandemic Interventions’!! The WHO recommends: ‘Politics should be Quarantined concerning COVID-19 Pandemic’! The Governments of the World MUST mount ‘Timeously Appropriate Interventions’ against the two ‘Unseen Global Enemies’: ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ and ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’!! We need ‘Improved Global Health Literacy’ to mount ‘Appropriate Pandemic Interventions’!!
The BMJ/ Editorials in ‘Triple-A Process’ on the UK Government’s Handling of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ is disposed thus:
Assessment: ‘Too Little, Too Late and Too Flawed’ [3]. The ‘Public Health’ was largely marginalized, decimated and fragmented and lack of ‘Clear Leadership at the Centre’ and no ‘Strong Operational Capacity at the Local Levels’ [1]! The ‘Public Health England’ is largely incapacitated re: Ability and Capacity to be appropriately relevant and effective in the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Interventions’!!
Analysis: Several ‘Determinants’ are identified! They include, among others, lack of the following: Advance Care Planning, Optimal Resource Utilization, Transparently Communicated Evidence-based Decisions, Continued Regard of Social Care, Attention to the Welfare of Healthcare Workers, Prioritizing Care of the Elderly and the Vulnerable, Legislation to Reduce the Effects of Alcohol on Health and Society!
Action: ‘Wake-up Call to Reality and Plan a New Future’! The UK Government is expected to ‘Reconcile’ its ‘Intervention Strategies’ with the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Realities’ and ‘Re-Strategize’ taking cognizance of the extant ‘Evidence-based Pandemic Information’ to mount effective and appropriate ‘Determinants-related COVID-19 Pandemic-specific Interventions’!
All Governments are also invited to the ‘Wake-up Call’ and should undertake a critical ‘Triple-A Process’ on their ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Situational Realities’ in order to ‘Rework their Interventions’ and adopting ‘New Approaches’ with ‘Evidence-based Information/ Data’! A critical review of their ‘COVID-19 Epidemic Curves’ should be undertaken. All Governments should strive to be ‘Ahead of their Curves’, rather than being ‘Behind their Curves’, and intensify ‘Appropriate Interventions’ capable of achieving the ‘Flattening of these Curves’!!
Beyond the ‘Catalogue of Devastations and Catastrophes’ wreaked by the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’, all Governments should, in ‘Harkening to the Wake-up Call’, also evolve ‘Sustainable Interventions’ to ‘Optimize the COVID-19 Pandemic Benefits’ [4,5]! The appropriate harnessing of the ‘Pandemic Benefits’ will ultimately result in successfully ‘Weathering the Storm’: The ‘Unprecedented Pandemic of the 21st Century’!
Several ‘Lessons Learnt’ from the ‘Previous Epidemics/ Pandemics’ [6] should not be allowed to become ‘Missed Opportunities’ for ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’. Appropriate ‘Pandemic Interventions’ to optimize the ‘Lessons Learnt’ will also amplify successfully overcoming the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’! The World is encouraged to learn a ‘Huge Lesson’ from the ‘African Ebola Scourge Success Story’ [5]!! This is a ‘Wake-up Call’ for ‘Appropriate Health Technology (AHT)’ for ‘Cost-Effective Sustainable Interventions’!!!
The ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’, as a ‘Novel Ravaging and Devastating Scourge’, caught all Governments in the World ‘Off-guard and Largely Unprepared’ and, hence, their ‘Pandemic Interventions’ have been mostly ‘Sub-Optimal’! All Governments, without exception, MUST now harken to the ‘Wake-up Call’ to own up to their ‘Unsatisfactory Interventions’ and strategically and programmatically begin anew with ‘Appropriate Triple-A Process-related Interventions’ to combat the ‘Devastatingly Ravaging COVID-19 Pandemic’!! A rational response to the ‘Wake-up Call’ may be a ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Benefit’ in the long run!!! The BMJ must remain focused and undeterred in its avowed commitment to ‘Best Practices’ in ‘Critical Objective Biomedical Journalism’!!!!
REFERENCES
1. Godlee F. Covid-19: A wake-up call. BMJ 2020; 369:m2021.
2. Powell DEB. Testing testing. https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1918/rr-5 of 18th May 2020
3. Scally G, Jacobson B, Abbasi K. The UK’s public health response to covid-19. BMJ 2020; 369:m1932
4. Godlee F. COVID-19: Weathering the storm. BMJ 2020; 368:m1199 of 26th March 2020
5. Kickbusch I, Leung GM, Bhutta ZA, Matsoso MP, Ihekweazu C, Abbasi K. Covid-19: how a virus is turning the world upside down. BMJ 2020; 369:m1336 of 3rd April 2020
6. COVID-19: Lessons and Recommendations. www.isglobal.org/coronavirus of 12th March 2020
Professor Charles Osayande Eregie,
MBBS, FWACP, FMCPaed, FRCPCH (UK), Cert. ORT (Oxford), MSc (Religious Education),
Professor of Child Health and Neonatology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria and
Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
UNICEF-Trained BFHI Master Trainer and ICDC-Trained in Code Implementation.
*Technical Expert/ Consultant on the FMOH-UNICEF-NAFDAC Code Implementation Project in Nigeria.
*No Competing Interests.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
26 May 2020
CHARLES OSAYANDE EREGIE
MEDICAL DOCTOR
Professor of Child Health and Neonatology, University of Benin and Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Also, UNICEF-Trained BFHI Master Trainer and ICDC-Trained in Code Implementaion. Also a Technical Expert/ Consultant on FMOH-UNICEF-NAFDAC Project on Code Implementation in Nigeria
Institute of Child Health, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Rapid Response:
COVID-19 Pandemic: A Wake-up Call To Reality
Dear Editor
The BMJ has demonstrated, once again, the courage of its conviction to dispose its ‘Triple-A Process’ on the UK Government’s handling of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ and denominated in a ‘Wake-up Call’ [1]! The ‘BMJ Position’, of course, does not reflect a ‘Unanimous Disposition’ [2] on the ‘Extant Conversation’ but clearly highlights the ‘Path to the Future’ in the ‘Fight’ against the ‘World’s Greatest Unprecedented Unseen Enemy’! Being a ‘Novel Coronavirus Disease’, the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ caught virtually ALL Governments in the World completely ‘Off-guard, Unprepared and Programmatically Paralyzed’ in their ‘Pandemic Interventions’! The UK Government is not extricated from this ‘Generic Disposition’ and this is the ‘Truth/ Fact’ amplified by the ‘BMJ Position’!! The UK Government was the ‘Arrowhead’ of the ‘4-Point Approach’ to tackling the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’: Contain Delay, Research and Mitigate! This ‘Intervention Strategy’ was criticized for not including ‘Public Health Intervention’ for a predominantly ‘Public Health Scourge’!! It is doubtful how effectively the ‘WHO Standards for Containment’ were, in fact, implemented: Finding, Testing, Treating and Isolation!
The fact of being a ‘Novel Coronavirus Disease’ was the ‘Arrowhead of Unpreparedness’ in mounting timeously ‘Appropriate Interventions’ against the ‘SARS-CoV-2’ and the disease caused: ‘COVID-19’! The ‘Politics’ of the ‘Virus Origin’, ‘Virus Nomenclature’ and ‘Disease Nomenclature’ also conjointly mitigated against any ability or capacity of any Government to mount ‘Appropriate Interventions’ against the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’. Indeed, the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Information’ is remarkably still ‘Work In Progress’ and ‘Information in a Flux’! Much more is ‘Unknown and Uncertain’ about the ‘SARS-CoV-2’ and ‘COVID-19’ as increasingly much more is transmuting daily concerning the ‘Pandemic Information and Specifics’! This scenario creates ‘Pandemic Information Lacunae’ and since ‘Nature abhors Vacuum’, the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ finds its ‘Locus’ confounding further any ‘Appropriateness and Adequacy’ of ‘Articulated Pandemic Interventions’; The ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ includes, among others: Misinformation, Disinformation, Myths, Memes, Rumours, Unscientific Claims, Misleading Communication, Information Toxicity, Misinterpreted Data, Downplayed Data, Inappropriately Contextualized Concepts, Politically-influenced Information, ‘Various and Varied Conspiracy Theories’ etc!
‘Politics’ has been another ‘Confounding Determinant’ which has remarkably compromised and polluted the Science, Facts and Evidence of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ regarding several ‘Aspects’: The ‘Published Pandemic Data/ Computer Scientific Models Projected Data, Drugs in Clinical Trials, Candidate Vaccines in Various Phases of Clinical Trials, Diagnostic and Screening Tests in Use, Convalescent Serum and Antibodies Testing Tools etc! This further grows the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’ with compromised ‘Data Integrity and Reliability’ and increasingly eroded ‘Principles and Ethos’ of ‘Clinical Governance’ and ‘Research Governance’!! Some Governments are ‘Controlling’ the ‘Foundational Pillars’ of ‘Clinical Governance’ and ‘Research Governance’ with the resultant ‘Collapse of the Foundational Pillars’ of ‘Data Governance’ still further worsening the ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’.
The UK ‘Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE)’ appears not to be spared the possible ‘Political Coloration’ in its ‘Work Output’ in the ‘Fight’ against the ‘Unprecedented Pandemic’! This, in fact, gave birth to the ‘Independent SAGE’ to assure ‘Politics-free Pandemic Interventions’!! The WHO recommends: ‘Politics should be Quarantined concerning COVID-19 Pandemic’! The Governments of the World MUST mount ‘Timeously Appropriate Interventions’ against the two ‘Unseen Global Enemies’: ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ and ‘COVID-19 Infodemic’!! We need ‘Improved Global Health Literacy’ to mount ‘Appropriate Pandemic Interventions’!!
The BMJ/ Editorials in ‘Triple-A Process’ on the UK Government’s Handling of the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’ is disposed thus:
Assessment: ‘Too Little, Too Late and Too Flawed’ [3]. The ‘Public Health’ was largely marginalized, decimated and fragmented and lack of ‘Clear Leadership at the Centre’ and no ‘Strong Operational Capacity at the Local Levels’ [1]! The ‘Public Health England’ is largely incapacitated re: Ability and Capacity to be appropriately relevant and effective in the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Interventions’!!
Analysis: Several ‘Determinants’ are identified! They include, among others, lack of the following: Advance Care Planning, Optimal Resource Utilization, Transparently Communicated Evidence-based Decisions, Continued Regard of Social Care, Attention to the Welfare of Healthcare Workers, Prioritizing Care of the Elderly and the Vulnerable, Legislation to Reduce the Effects of Alcohol on Health and Society!
Action: ‘Wake-up Call to Reality and Plan a New Future’! The UK Government is expected to ‘Reconcile’ its ‘Intervention Strategies’ with the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Realities’ and ‘Re-Strategize’ taking cognizance of the extant ‘Evidence-based Pandemic Information’ to mount effective and appropriate ‘Determinants-related COVID-19 Pandemic-specific Interventions’!
All Governments are also invited to the ‘Wake-up Call’ and should undertake a critical ‘Triple-A Process’ on their ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Situational Realities’ in order to ‘Rework their Interventions’ and adopting ‘New Approaches’ with ‘Evidence-based Information/ Data’! A critical review of their ‘COVID-19 Epidemic Curves’ should be undertaken. All Governments should strive to be ‘Ahead of their Curves’, rather than being ‘Behind their Curves’, and intensify ‘Appropriate Interventions’ capable of achieving the ‘Flattening of these Curves’!!
Beyond the ‘Catalogue of Devastations and Catastrophes’ wreaked by the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’, all Governments should, in ‘Harkening to the Wake-up Call’, also evolve ‘Sustainable Interventions’ to ‘Optimize the COVID-19 Pandemic Benefits’ [4,5]! The appropriate harnessing of the ‘Pandemic Benefits’ will ultimately result in successfully ‘Weathering the Storm’: The ‘Unprecedented Pandemic of the 21st Century’!
Several ‘Lessons Learnt’ from the ‘Previous Epidemics/ Pandemics’ [6] should not be allowed to become ‘Missed Opportunities’ for ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’. Appropriate ‘Pandemic Interventions’ to optimize the ‘Lessons Learnt’ will also amplify successfully overcoming the ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’! The World is encouraged to learn a ‘Huge Lesson’ from the ‘African Ebola Scourge Success Story’ [5]!! This is a ‘Wake-up Call’ for ‘Appropriate Health Technology (AHT)’ for ‘Cost-Effective Sustainable Interventions’!!!
The ‘COVID-19 Pandemic’, as a ‘Novel Ravaging and Devastating Scourge’, caught all Governments in the World ‘Off-guard and Largely Unprepared’ and, hence, their ‘Pandemic Interventions’ have been mostly ‘Sub-Optimal’! All Governments, without exception, MUST now harken to the ‘Wake-up Call’ to own up to their ‘Unsatisfactory Interventions’ and strategically and programmatically begin anew with ‘Appropriate Triple-A Process-related Interventions’ to combat the ‘Devastatingly Ravaging COVID-19 Pandemic’!! A rational response to the ‘Wake-up Call’ may be a ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Benefit’ in the long run!!! The BMJ must remain focused and undeterred in its avowed commitment to ‘Best Practices’ in ‘Critical Objective Biomedical Journalism’!!!!
REFERENCES
1. Godlee F. Covid-19: A wake-up call. BMJ 2020; 369:m2021.
2. Powell DEB. Testing testing. https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1918/rr-5 of 18th May 2020
3. Scally G, Jacobson B, Abbasi K. The UK’s public health response to covid-19. BMJ 2020; 369:m1932
4. Godlee F. COVID-19: Weathering the storm. BMJ 2020; 368:m1199 of 26th March 2020
5. Kickbusch I, Leung GM, Bhutta ZA, Matsoso MP, Ihekweazu C, Abbasi K. Covid-19: how a virus is turning the world upside down. BMJ 2020; 369:m1336 of 3rd April 2020
6. COVID-19: Lessons and Recommendations. www.isglobal.org/coronavirus of 12th March 2020
Professor Charles Osayande Eregie,
MBBS, FWACP, FMCPaed, FRCPCH (UK), Cert. ORT (Oxford), MSc (Religious Education),
Professor of Child Health and Neonatology, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria and
Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
UNICEF-Trained BFHI Master Trainer and ICDC-Trained in Code Implementation.
*Technical Expert/ Consultant on the FMOH-UNICEF-NAFDAC Code Implementation Project in Nigeria.
*No Competing Interests.
Competing interests: No competing interests