Public Health Management Challenges During COVID-19

COVID-19 hits very hard the whole world. It was declared as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by Director General WHO on 30th January 2020 (WHO, 2023). After about 3 years, on 4th May 2023, the WHO Emergency the Committee highlighted the decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths, the decline in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2. The Committee advised that it is time to transition to long-term management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the Committee regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and determines that COVID-19 is already an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) (WHO, 2023). As of 25 October 2023, there have been 771,549,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world, including 6,974,473 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 21 October 2023, a total of 13,533,465,652 vaccine doses have been administered globally (WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard, 2023). The three years experiences of COVID-19 has definitely become a game changer globally, even far more impactful than the invention of the engine during the industrial revolution. We also know that there will be another disease outbreak in the future, and even another pandemic. What we should do now is to learned our lesson from COVID-19 pandemic to be better prepare for the next health challenges that might occur.