By Umar Sheraz Dr. Peter Black is a foresight practitioner and veterinary epidemiologist with extensive experience in addressing emerging infectious disease threats. His experience has included working as the Deputy Regional Manager of the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) based in Bangkok with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and as Director of One Health and Director of Emergency Animal Disease Preparedness for the Australian Government Department of Agriculture. In these roles, he has managed the implementation of the Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) Programme with a wide range of government and non-government partners across ten countries…
Author: Umar Sheraz
By Jose Ramos, Ida Uusikyla and Nguyen Tuan Luong The Corona-virus pandemic has highlighted how a weak signal (the evolution of corona-viruses) can generate a wildcard event, massive disruption with huge implications. It also highlights the value of social foresight, long term thinking geared toward the public good. Unfortunately, as we are seeing with the pandemic, it is a little too late. Under-investment by governments in identifying, understanding and mitigating emerging risks has meant that most countries were not prepared. We are now experiencing the deadly consequences. But pandemics are only one of a number of issues that as societies…