«Pandemic-Lone» warns of FHI cuts
The trustees in FHI describe the mood as gloomy, and director Camilla Stoltenberg says that this is a situation that is unlike anything that has been set before.
She does not hide the consequences of the government’s massive cuts in support for FHI can be large.
– We, and Norway, will have an infection control preparedness at the level of what we had in 2019 and possibly lower, and we will provide fewer services within most of our professional areas, Stoltenberg said to TV 2 Tuesday.
The director says that she and the employees must do the best they can, but point out that it is not unforeseen.
Warns
Lone Simonsen is one of Denmark’s foremost experts on infection control, and since 2020 has been director of the research center PandemiX at the University of Roskilde.
Simonsen says it makes sense to downgrade preparedness, since covid-19 can no longer be considered a disease that threatens society.
But she warns against too big cuts.
– It is a shame if in Norway and Denmark emergency preparedness is quickly reduced to what it was before the pandemic. Then it will probably be funds or personally for important pandemic studies, says «pandemi-Lone» to TV 2.
The Danes have gone to the polls this fall, and it has not been decided how big the cuts will be in the emergency preparedness.
– If it is not funded, we will not be well prepared for a future pandemic, says Simonsen.
– Now that we have established that it can be very serious, I had hoped that we would have been better prepared next time with protective equipment and testing capacity.
Simonsen is referred to by the Danish media as «Pandemi-Lone». She emphasizes the importance of having a good preparedness.
– A good plan will also be to have preparedness so that you can react to a future unknown threat. It could well be the coronavirus or influenza type A again, but it could also be something else entirely, says Simonsen.
– Brutal
Steinar Westin is professor emeritus in social medicine at NTNU. He shares Camilla Stoltenberg’s concern.
– The cut of up to 300 man-years is brutal, and surprisingly high, says Westin to TV 2.
He says the pandemic is far from over.
– Although many clearly think so, it is wishful thinking. We have had far more covid deaths now in 2022 even during the early phase of the pandemic. But we would rather not know about it, says the professor.
– Serious challenges
The mass redundancies in FHI are also received negatively by several voices within infection control and preparedness that TV 2 has spoken to.
– We are in a pandemic for which it has been concluded that we were not prepared for. The pandemic is not over, and the work to increase our preparedness is not over. In addition, we face serious challenges with antibiotic resistance, says Tromsø Trond Brattland, infection control supervisor.
He points out that one of the most important measures that can equip us against this is to improve infection control in Norway.
– Then it’s a shame if you lower the FHI to a level that I estimate is at best the same as before the pandemic. A lot of expertise will probably be lost, and important work will not be completed, he believes.
– Worse equipped
In terms of knowledge, we believe that Brattland is better prepared for a new pandemic, but that there are still major shortcomings.
– We do not have good enough national agreements on vaccines, and you are dependent on goodwill from the EU. So it is probably true that we are less equipped than those who accept, says the infection control chief.
So far in the pandemic, Norway has lent itself to vaccine cooperation through the EU. The willingness to donate from European countries has been great, and Norway has been well helped by the Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrøm.
But if an even more serious and deadly pandemic were to occur, the fear is that the European willingness to donate will not be as great – and that Norway could risk ending up outside such a vaccine collaboration.
– It went well this time, but it is important that Norway is formally involved in a collaboration next time it smells, said Bergstrøm to TV 2 on Tuesday.