The Israeli University of Tel Aviv is about to inaugurate an interdisciplinary center to fight Covid-19 and future pandemic outbreaks.
The Center for Combating Pandemics will examine not only the medical and scientific aspects, but also the economic and social effects, and formulate appropriate policies to address them more effectively, this is what is stated in the press release of the university.
Focusing on frontline policies to contain the emergency, it will analyze the development of vaccines and other treatments, and delve into how nations can economically and socially "cope" with the pressures of a pandemic.
The director of the new center will be prof. Itai Benhar of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, and as reported by an American technical journal would have declared that "Over the past 15 years, the world has seen a number of viral pathogens infect large numbers of people, including SARS, MERS, swine and avian flu so we are no longer safe from these dangerous emerging diseases.".
"The Covid-19 pandemic - continues Benhar - has taught us that it is not possible to separate the medical crisis from the socio-economic crisis".
"The Center for Combating Pandemics will increase our ability to incorporate different perspectives into recommendations to decision makers to improve and protect the labor market as well".
The new Center would become a long-term investment, which is always part of Israeli programming, stating that "In the long term, the Center is expected not only to contribute to global efforts to combat and contain the current crisis, but also to create the scientific and professional foundations that will enable a possible next pandemic to be successfully addressed".
Along with the "obvious" medical aspects of managing a pandemic, such as emergency medicine, epidemiology, vaccine and treatment development and preventive measures, the Center will also involve scholars in law, public policy, economics and other fields to examine the broader repercussions of pandemics and recommend solutions.
Photo: TAU
