Leadership INSIGHTS: Issue 02

This issue of Research Australia’s Leadership INSIGHTS series presents three opinion pieces from leaders of member organisations on the COVID-19 pandemic and chronic disease. Professor Tony Cunningham AO, Co-Director of the Centre for Virus Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, argues for a pragmatic, evidence-based response built on strong links between scientific advice and government. He outlines unresolved questions about transmission and immunity, explains why herd immunity cannot be reached through natural infection, sets out the efficacy and safety testing required of vaccines, and warns that publication before peer review risks misleading policy. Mr Jeppe Theisen, Vice President and Managing Director of Novo Nordisk Oceania, describes the rising burden of diabetes in Australia, citing research showing that about half of people with diabetes do not receive standard care, and notes that COVID-19 lockdowns reduced general practice visits and pathology testing. He calls for cross-sector collaboration on preventing type 2 diabetes. Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Health) at the University of Melbourne, in a piece first published in the Australian Financial Review, proposes a “Plan C” for Victoria that accepts living with the virus, moves decisions from news conferences to parliaments and cabinet, engages the public on acceptable risk, and allows different rules for different states.