Blog
During the COVID-19 pandemic, global collaborations have been critical to rapidly develop scientific approaches to combat the pandemic. The learnings of these collaborations can now be leveraged to prepare ourselves for new post-pandemic challenges.
This is the topic of the 2021 virtual international conference organized by the Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network (BSLZ4Net).
In this part of my conversation with Prof. Dr. Manfred Wildner and Dr. Herbert Zöllner in Munich, we are discussing biothreat and pandemic preparedness in Germany.
Dr. Herbert Zöllner
Dr. Zöllner worked for the World Health Organization from 1971-2002, in a variety of roles. He was Regional Officer for Health Economics at WHO’s Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen and later member of the executive management team in Strategic Planning and Coordination.
How can the coronavirus outbreak be mitigated? Picture by Shutterstock
The US seems behind in its efforts to contain the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. Learnings from other countries, in particular Italy and Germany, indicate that infections have already spread widely in communities and can no longer be traced and controlled. These countries are ahead of the curve and there is no reason to believe that developments in the US will not follow this same path. Continue Reading
During my meeting with Prof. Dr. Manfred Wildner and his colleague Dr. Herbert Zöllner in Munich, Germany, we discussed the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the German, UK, and US public health systems. The systems are strikingly different.
Each German federal state is responsible for public health. Pictured here is Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Photo by Mia Tellmann
Over the summer, I met with Prof. Dr. Manfred Wildner and his colleague, Dr. Herbert Zöllner, in Munich, Germany to learn about the structure of public health institutions and emergency preparedness in Germany.
Germany is a federal republic consisting of 16 states. Each individual state is responsible for public health, as well as other matters including policing and education. I wanted to understand how Germany, and in particular the individual states, organize themselves to prepare for public health emergencies. Continue Reading
German hygienist Max Joseph von Pettenkofer. Picture by Shutterstock
An interesting fact I came across while I was preparing to meet a German public health expert (see my blogs in the coming weeks), is that the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, among many other institutions, was inspired by and modeled after the Hygieneinstitut (Hygiene Institute) in Munich. Continue Reading