250 Swedish virologists join forces to fight virus-caused diseases within a national Pandemic Foundation–and they hope for other countries to follow
There are hundreds of viruses that cause diseases in humans, and that we cannot currently treat or prevent. The only way to prevent future pandemics is through research. To fight virus-caused diseases and pandemics, Swedish virologists have now launched a national pandemic initiative, and they encourage more countries to follow suit.
A little more than a year ago, the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world. Even with vaccination programmes now being rolled out, this pandemic will leave the world with deep consequences, for individuals as well as societies, proving that there is still much more to learn about virus causation, containment and treatment.
In Sweden, 250 virus scientists decided to do something about this to prevent a similar situation occurring in the future. Together, they now launch a national Pandemic Foundation that will raise money to strengthen virus research, support national cooperation and spread the knowledge about virus-caused diseases and pandemics.
“The new coronavirus is just one of hundreds of viruses that we have insufficient knowledge about, and that we cannot currently treat or prevent. And, if new viruses emerge and cross the species barrier, we don’t have the tools to prevent them. This is why we have decided to start an initiative to gather knowledge for the prevention of future pandemics”, says Niklas Arnberg, professor in Virology and president of the Swedish Pandemic Foundation.
It is not only Swedish scientists that have warned of future virus-caused pandemics. Over the past twelve years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global emergency six times. Each of these emergencies have been caused by different types of viruses. The Swedish Pandemic Foundation will raise money to strengthen Sweden's national work on virus-caused diseases and pandemics, with a long-term objective to prevent future pandemics. Money raised will be invested in virus research, cooperation and to spread information about virus-caused diseases.
Swedish virologists now hope other countries will follow their footsteps.
”The world cannot afford another pandemic, which Covid-19 is proof enough for. We therefore encourage other countries to follow our initiative and pull together the resources needed to do more research about viruses. The world needs to cooperate to be better prepared for future virus-caused outbreaks and pandemics”, says Niklas Arnberg.
Behind the Swedish Pandemic foundation stands The Swedish Society for Virology, an independent non-profit association which brings together more than 250 virus scientists to share knowledge in the field.