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10.1 Lessons for the future Ngā akoranga mō ā muri ake

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Overview | Tirohanga whānui

Having reflected on what can be learned from looking back at Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we now turn to the future. This chapter outlines six thematic lessons that we believe should be learned from and acted on before the next pandemic.

Before outlining these lessons in detail, it is worth pausing to reflect on how much the global context from which they are drawn has been fundamentally shaped by the events of the COVID-19 pandemic itself. The pandemic was a transformative and disruptive worldwide event. It expanded what the world knows about pathogens, their origins and spread, and how science and data can help us prepare for and combat future pandemics. It graphically demonstrated the extraordinary reach pandemics can have in a highly mobile and connected world. COVID-19 touched nearly every aspect of people’s lives, producing social and economic effects of great breadth, severity and duration. And it also brought home the challenges of responding well to such an event.

What’s in this chapter?

This chapter consists of two sections. In the first, we make eight big-picture observations about how the global context has shifted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, shaping the context for the lessons we draw for the future. These observations, in brief, are:

  • COVID-19 expanded international understanding of pandemic pathogens.
  • Pandemics require a different kind of response from most other emergencies because of their scale and duration.
  • Resolute, clear and strategic leadership is a formidable asset during a pandemic emergency, coupled with strong social cohesion and trust.
  • The increasing challenge of misinformation and disinformation is an issue for pandemic responses.
  • Pandemics require anticipatory governance, and long-term planning and investment.
  • A highly connected world has changed how pandemics are experienced; this creates both risks and opportunities when managing them.
  • COVID-19 expanded the strategic response options that can be deployed in a pandemic.
  • There are many ways to respond to a pandemic, even within a single strategy.

In the second section, we present these six thematic lessons for the future. These describe the high-level elements we think are necessary to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand is better prepared for the next pandemic ahead of time, and ready to respond in ways that take care of all aspects of people’s lives. These lessons, in brief, are:

    • Lesson 1: Manage pandemics to look after all aspects of people’s lives. In practice, this means:
      • 1.1 Put people at the centre of any future pandemic response.
      • 1.2 Consider what it means to ‘look after all aspects of people’s lives’ from multiple angles.
    • Lesson 2: Make good decisions. In practice, this means:
      • 2.1 Maintain a focus on looking after all aspects of people’s lives in pandemic preparedness and response.
      • 2.2 Follow robust decision-making processes (to the extent possible during a pandemic).
      • 2.3 Use appropriate tools when developing and considering policy response options.
      • 2.4 Be responsive to concerns, clear about intentions and transparent about trade-offs.
    • Lesson 3: Build resilience in the health system. In practice, this means:
      • 3.1 Build public health capacity to increase the range of options available to decision-makers in a pandemic.
      • 3.2 Enhance the health system’s capacity to respond to a pandemic without compromising access to health services.
    • Lesson 4: Build resilience in economic and social systems. In practice, this means:
      • 4.1 Foster strong economic foundations.
      • 4.2 Use economic and social support measures to keep ‘normal’ life going as much as possible.
      • 4.3 Ensure continuous supply of key goods and services.
    • Lesson 5: Work together. In practice, this means:
      • 5.1 Work in partnership with Māori.
      • 5.2 Work in partnership with communities.
      • 5.3 Work closely with the business sector.
    • Lesson 6: Build the foundations. In practice, this means:
      • 6.1 Anticipate and manage the risks posed by a future pandemic (alongside other risks).
      • 6.2 Have key components of an effective national response in place and ready to be activated

These lessons for the future lay the groundwork for our final recommendations, which follow in the next chapter.

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