IATA urges governments to learn lessons from COVID-19 to manage future health crises

IATA stated (20-Jun-2022) governments should apply the following key lessons "learned from the dismantling of global connectivity in response to COVID-19 to ensure that future global health threats can be effectively managed without closing borders":

• Evidence confirms that border measures are not an effective global strategy to control a pandemic;
• Governments should balance health measures with economic and social impacts;
• Traveller confidence requires logical rules and clear communication;
• Governments should adopt guidance for how public health measures, once introduced, will be removed;
• Governments should simplify and digitise travel bureaucracy and paperwork with common standards and mutual recognition of digital health credentials.

IATA deputy DG Conrad Clifford stated: "It's vital to restore public confidence in government handling of health crises and border restrictions. Much of the damage was caused not by fear of the virus, but fear of sudden and arbitrary border restrictions imposed by authorities. Understanding the significant lessons from the pandemic will be crucial to managing future health crises in a way that ensures borders should not have to close again". [more - original PR]