The UK will offer its world leading genomics expertise to help identify new variants of
the virus that cause COVID-19 in countries in the Caribbean and around the world.
The announcement comes as part of a speech delivered by UK Health Secretary,
Matt Hancock at Chatham House. As part of the UK’s Presidency of the G7 this year,
the Health Secretary outlined his vision for a stronger, more collaborative and
effective global health system, not just in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, but to
ensure the international community is better prepared for future threats.
Countries will be offered UK capacity to analyse new strains of the virus through the
launch of the New Variant Assessment Platform which will be led by Public Health
England (PHE) working with NHS Test and Trace and academic partners, as well as
the World Health Organization’s SARS-CoV-2 Global Laboratory Working Group.
This supports Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Five Point Plan, as outlined at the
United Nations General Assembly last year, to protect humanity from another
pandemic through a shared approach to global health security.
In due course, it will be led by the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) and
will involve PHE laboratories and staff as well as academic partner capabilities.
They will be working directly on samples provided from abroad or will provide expert
advice and support remotely where the partner country already has capabilities in
this area but requests further assistance. The offer could include training and
resources as well as personnel and equipment.
Countries will be able to apply for assistance by contacting the World Health
Organization where an existing channel does not already exist with the UK.
This vital work will combat the spread of coronavirus by identifying more Covid-19
variants around the world to keep the global community one step ahead of any
mutations.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This pandemic has shown that the foundations of so many of the exciting experiences that make life worth living are contingent not just on our health, or the health of our neighbours, but the health of people we’ve never met. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.
“So we must work to promote health security in every single part of the world. Not
only will this Platform help us better understand this virus and how it spreads, but it
will also boost global capability in this important field, so we’re all better prepared for
whatever lies ahead”.
The UK has carried out more than half of all SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences
submitted to the global database, and this capability helped PHE’s scientists identify
the variant in Kent, informing new measures to tackle the spread of the virus.
Dr Isabel Oliver, Director of Public Health England’s National Infection Service,
said: “We know that the virus will evolve over time and certain mutations could potentially
cause the virus to spread faster, make people sicker, or possibly affect how well
vaccines work. Genomic testing is crucial to our efforts to control the virus – it allows
us to keep an eye on how the virus is changing and to respond before it’s too late.
“This new initiative will bring Public Health England’s cutting edge science to
countries that have little or no ability to sequence and analyse COVID-19 virus
strains themselves. It will also give us crucial early warning of new variants emerging
around the world.”
As the UK holds the presidency of the G7, improving global health security will be a
key theme as we encourage countries to work collaboratively both to tackle this
pandemic and ensure stronger preparedness for further health threats.
New variants of coronavirus can be threats to the progress made so far with
treatments and vaccines, so it is vital that the global community is able to react to
them quickly and decisively. The UK’s genomic expertise will guide the global
response to controlling their spread and saving lives.
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
Thanks but if the UK really wants to help, how about some vaccines instead? Identifying the strain of virus really will not help us beat the virus. We need vaccines. Too much selfish vaccine nationalism
One must study its enemy to begin to understand how to beat it…
This is the typical mentality of Antigua… From one hand it’s all Gimmi gimmi gimmi!! We wan a vaccine!
The other hand will cuss the British until their last breath…..
You hear me I tell you?
True, and when we identify the new strain then what? We just continue doing what we are already told to do.
Great. This is a good thing.
But wait…….
Wait for the flood gate of comments to burst through claiming this is somehow a bad thing and all U.K. people are bad minded to Antiguans…….
Lol. That is seems to be the trend on this blog.. Which is really sad.
Covid is like Aids. You go out and don’t protect yourself then you may be caught!!!
Is the UK to be trusted? Send vaccines if they want to help. They exploited this country for centuries. Can we trust them again???
Are you suggesting the UK has the same mentality today as it did during times of the empire and slavery? You may not have noticed but the UK is in a battle with europe right now, with europe trying to steal the UK’s vaccines, despite the UK ordering theirs 3 months before europe.
Yes, just a different strategy. Remember some years ago they attempted to deport caribbean people who were born in England and knew nothing about the Caribbean.
Incorrect. They were deporting people of the Windrush generation that never formalised their British status. They were entitled to be there though, and it was admitted as a mistake.
Comments are closed.