Trust science: Global efforts to treat Covid-19 will deliver

The Covid-19 pandemic may have brought to the fore several deficiencies with the global multilateral order. The big lesson is that we need far more global cooperation and trust to deal with a crisis of this nature. One area where such cooperation continues is medical research to find a cure or a vaccine for the coronavirus. Take for example the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University in collaboration with seven global institutions, including India’s Serum Institute. This particular vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus from chimpanzees that has been inserted with the genes of the spike protein found in the coronavirus.

Similarly, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd is developing a vaccine based on an influenza vaccine already being developed by US company FluGen. Then two promising drugs that can help in the treatment of Covid-19 are remdesivir and favipiravir. While the former saw 50% of Covid-19 patients improve and more than half discharge from hospital within two weeks in a study, the latter was deemed to be effective in treatment of coronavirus by a study in China.

Additionally, various plasma therapy trials – involving transfusion of antibody-rich blood plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients into those who are ill – are taking place, while the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine is being trialled as a prophylaxis. These and many other vaccines and drugs in the works should yield a treatment for Covid-19. What’s important is that the transnational collaborative research that the pandemic has elicited should continue even after the disease is controlled. Cutting-edge medical science work can’t be done in silos. Thus, any notions of deglobalisation should be shunted forthwith. Only collective scientific efforts with benefits for all can protect humankind.