Japan's top coronavirus adviser called Thursday for a better response to the next infectious disease pandemic at an international conference held in southwestern China's Yunnan Province, saying a "robust crisis management network" needs to be established in normal times.
Shigeru Omi, who headed a government panel on the novel coronavirus, told the gathering aimed at sharing COVID-19 knowledge that Japan had "not learned sufficiently" from the lessons of the 2009 new flu pandemic.
Japan had also seen its health care system overstretched due to such factors as a fewer number of health care staff per population compared with other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which groups together 38 rich countries, he said.
But Japan's accumulated number of deaths per million has been kept relatively low due partly to hardworking medical professionals' firm commitment to the protection of people's health, Omi said.
To better prepare for the next infectious disease outbreak, Omi sought for a network involving public, private and academic sectors as well as the training of more professionals in communicable disease and public health.
As for China's COVID response, Omi told reporters following his speech that he believes Beijing has "room for improvement" regarding its information disclosure as the international community seeks to share such data as fast as possible.
Following the significant easing of the country's stringent "zero-COVID" policy, coronavirus infections exploded in China late last year, but critics say official data lacked credibility.
The World Health Organization has expressed concerns about underreporting of China's COVID death count.
Thursday's meeting was hosted by Chinese hospitals and attended by researchers from countries including Britain and the United States. Omi formerly served as WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific.
