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If you are anxious, you might want to skip the following lines. Yuen Kwok-yung, a prominent Hong Kong researcher and physician, warns that a new pandemic is inevitable and could cause far more damage than Covid-19.
These chilling words come from a highly respected scientist. Yuen Kwok-yung, often compared to American expert Anthony Fauci, former public health advisor to U.S. presidents, urges global political leaders to recognize the risks.
“Probably Sooner Than We Think”
“The public and leaders must acknowledge that a new pandemic will occur, and probably sooner than we think,” he stated in an interview at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, where he works and teaches. He explained to AFP that rapid geopolitical, economic, and climate changes increase these risks. Politicians must “come to their senses” and address “global existential threats,” the researcher warns in his new autobiography, My Life in Medicine, A Hong Kong Journey (untranslated into English).
A Global Priority
While world leaders focus on “national or regional interests,” Yuen Kwok-yung believes that rapid climate change and emerging infectious diseases should be a top priority. “It’s something so important that we shouldn’t ignore it.”
An Authority on Coronaviruses
Graduating in medicine in 1981, Yuen became known in 2003 after isolating and identifying the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), an infectious lung disease caused by a coronavirus. This crucial step enabled testing, diagnosing, and treating the disease, which appeared in China and Hong Kong before spreading globally.
The Experience of SARS and Covid-19
This experience guided Yuen during the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely affected Hong Kong due to a low vaccination rate, especially among the elderly. “We benefited from twenty years of studies following the SARS epidemic,” he writes. Preventive measures were crucial while awaiting vaccines, despite obstacles like fear, ignorance, poor communication, and misinformation. Hong Kong recorded about 3 million Covid-19 cases, roughly half its population, and over 13,800 deaths.
An Intense and Productive Period
It was an intense period for Yuen, who became a key expert for the government and authored over 100 peer-reviewed studies on the virus. Last year, he founded the Pandemic Research Alliance with counterparts from mainland China and the United States to share information on future threats. “It’s a bad idea to stop or hinder these exchanges because they protect everyone,” he stated. “If we don’t talk about it […] and another pandemic occurs, we will again pay a heavy price.”
Additional Examples
To illustrate his warnings, Yuen Kwok-yung cites several historical pandemics that have caused widespread devastation. The 1918 Spanish flu, for instance, infected a third of the world’s population and resulted in approximately 50 million deaths. More recently, the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic demonstrated how quickly a virus can spread globally. Additionally, the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa between 2014 and 2016 highlighted the importance of a coordinated and swift response to contain emerging diseases. These examples show that vigilance and preparedness are crucial to preventing future health disasters.
