A vital lesson from this pandemic is that the capacities of public health systems must be scaled up and repurposed, and systemic approaches used for strengthening resilience across all sectors towards disasters.

Else, disruptions to the supply chain systems on which various facilities and undisrupted services depend have fatal consequences, says Sanjay Srivastava, Chief, Disaster Risk Reduction at the UN-ESCAP.

Also read: ‘Response strategy to inform recovery beyond Covid-19’

“As the world responds to the pandemic and many countries begin to roll out vaccination programmes, we have a unique opportunity to develop a resilient, accessible, inclusive, and affordable health and supply chain system for all,” Srivastava wrote in an e-mail to BusinessLine .

Strengthening resilience

The ESCAP Resolution on ‘Building back better from crises through regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific’ is an important step towards developing a regional strategy to strengthen post-Covid-19 health resilience in the region.

It builds on the Bangkok Principles for the implementation of the health aspects of the Sendai Framework, he said.

Although evidence indicates that a more contagious Covid-19 variant is spreading in India, the second wave is also driven by gaps in policy responses that emanate from a lack of anticipatory actions.

Challenge to data availability

So far, mathematical models have been used to inform public policies, including many e-social distancing measures implemented worldwide. However, all models face challenges due to data availability, rapid evolution of the pandemic and unprecedented control measures, notes Srivastava.

Also read: Covid-19: Cascading risks from health, disasters pose major challenge

Strengthening mathematical modelling research capacity for pandemic planning, forecast, response and early warning systems will be key to supporting risk-informed anticipatory actions, he added.

India has previously had a long-standing policy of discouraging external assistance in major disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2013 Uttarakhand floods. However, the current oxygen crisis has prompted a shift, with the country now accepting oxygen from 40 countries, including immediate neighbours.

Oxygen on WHO list of essentials

Humanitarian assistance has poured in, including oxygen generation systems, distribution equipment such as cryogenic tankers, industrial and personal oxygen cylinders and concentrators. The domestic ‘Oxygen Express’ too will help meet the demand.

Oxygen features on the World Health Organisation (WHO) model list of essential medicines. Before the second wave, India required 700-800 tonnes per day of medical oxygen. This increased to 3,500-4,000 tonnes per day by the second week of April — a jump of over 400 per cent — putting immense pressure on oxygen manufacturing units in the country.

Transporting millions of high-pressure steel cylinders, regulators, and non-sparking valves and connectors across the country has been challenging as cryogenic containers cannot be manufactured overnight to transport compressed liquid oxygen, Srivastava said.

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