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The COVID-19 Global Pandemic & Decision-Making ~ Early Warning, Risk Analysis & the Precautionary Principle

TAGS: COVID-19; preparedness; risk assessment - communication; precautionary principle; epidemiological assessment; resilience; sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goal 3
1.0   A pathway to address global concerns related to the “early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks”, is outlined.
2.0 The linkage between the application of the precautionary principle and epidemiological assessment is the trigger for a risk assessment - the basis for decision-making on preparedness and the early warning of a pandemic.
3.0   Using COVID-19 as an example, decision-making under the pathway would proceed along the following sequence of steps: The Precautionary Principle - Epidemiological Assessment - Risk Assessment - Risk Communication - The Risk Management/Resilience/Sustainable Development Linkage.
4.0   The pathway can also be a relevant consideration to avoid history repeating e.g. the global controversy over the time taken before an early warning was given for COVID-19.

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In 1993, Dr Ted Christie published one of the first articles in Australia on the precautionary principle: ‘The precautionary principle and environmental decision-making’, Queensland Planner, 33, 10–14.
In 1994 Ted - as a barrister in professional legal practice - was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholarship for research and scholarship in the United States: The research topic, “The Precautionary Principle and Environmental Decision-Making”.
During the 15-year period Ted held a part-time appointment as the Environmental Member and a Presiding Member of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Ted applied the precautionary principle in deciding appeals arising from decisions on development applications made by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

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