3 September 2021 - Humanity Will Win War Against COVID-19 (E)
"Breathe easy - ultimately `humanity will win the war against Covid-19’, asserts top global health expert and Chief Scientist of the WHO, Dr Soumya Swaminathan. Covid-19 has thrown up far too many challenges for the global health sector. We take a close look at how the World Health Organisation (WHO) and especially Dr Soumya Swaminathan as chief scientist of WHO took the lead to harness the best resources to fight the ongoing battle against Covid-19. On her visit to Chennai we also explore her upbringing and how it may have shaped her approach including being daughter of legendary Dr M. S. Swaminathan the man who rid India of hunger and part of a highly talented high achievers in her family. Take a look at India’s response to Covid-19. India literally gave mask wearing to the world being one of the largest countries to adopt universal use of masks in April 2019, will we have to live with masks forever? There has been unprecedented success in making 250 plus vaccine candidates in such a short time but what about equity and access. Will we see new variants? How did the pandemic begin and how it may end? Can we avert future pandemics? Dr Soumya is cautiously optimistic about DNA vaccines and says that new variants will arise and we need to be prepared. Dr Soumya says the lab leak theory is not ruled out, but dismisses that the SARS COV2 virus could be a tailored bioweapon."
