ABSTRACT
Pandemics are a unique confluence of diverse factors and no single pandemic replicates another. Yet the authors and commentators in this volume have individually and collectively underscored certain patterns – questions, problems and responses – that do cut across pandemics over time. Our conclusion takes stock of these patterns, contending that pandemic planners in the future might productively debate these common questions, problems and responses and adapt them to their own national preparedness plans for influenza, and also for other acute infectious diseases that pose the risk of epidemic or pandemic. The lessons here fall into several wide categories: implementation; the mobilization of non-governmental organizations and institutions; the cultivation of public investment and participation in public health measures; the recognition of non-public health factors in shaping response; factors of globalization changing the nature of epidemics; and inequities characterizing vulnerability to and outcome of infection. Embedded within these broad categories are other important lessons about effective communication, the media and the diverse needs and priorities of multi-ethnic communities.
