This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 14, 2021 - June 20, 2021

There are storm clouds overhead in Southeast Asia, as resurgent Covid-19 infections and new variants drive rising cases and fresh lockdowns in countries like Malaysia. But despite the current challenges, there is welcome light on the horizon as we look beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

In our publication, “The Covid-19 High-Wire Act Continues, But So Too Does Opportunity”, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) explores the potential revealed through encouraging innovations emerging from a challenging 18 months.

The recent announcement from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in neighbouring Singapore shows how steps towards “normal” are now possible, pioneering this journey in the region. The welcome reality is that transformations in science and technology — not least our Covid-19 vaccines — promise an end to the pandemic and the chance to deliver more equitable healthcare in the world that follows.

At the time of writing our original white paper, “Detect, Develop, and Deliver: A Holistic Approach to Managing Outbreaks”, in February 2020, global case numbers sat at 78,000, and deaths at 2,500. It’s sobering to see how much has changed since, with over 3.5 million deaths, and 170 million cases reported. The unfortunate truth is these figures remain substantial undercounts, particularly in less-developed regions.

In our original paper, we argued the path to tackling Covid-19 was to detect its spread, develop healthcare and societal mitigations and deliver interventions that helped save lives.

At the onset of the pandemic, there were miscued attempts to balance perceived economic and healthcare impacts. Nations such as Australia and New Zealand made clear that acting quickly and decisively to tackle Covid-19 was the most effective strategy in the early stages of the pandemic.

Malaysia itself initially fared well through this route, working to break the chain of infection. The surge of new variants that triggered our latest lockdown reveals how challenging maintaining such a policy can be, but inspiring innovations have provided better opportunities to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19.

Digital applications to track and trace exposure to Covid-19 are the most obvious of these tools. Alongside them, you can include the development of point-of-care diagnostics, data-driven analysis of disease burden and outbreaks, new treatment modalities and the efficacious Covid-19 vaccines which are now working to change the trajectory of this global pandemic in Malaysia and around the world.

Much of 2020 was reactionary against Covid-19. Vaccines now offer us a route to sustained reduction of health impacts that ultimately chart us a path beyond the pandemic. Resurgent second and third waves in nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, and indeed Malaysia, that had previously performed well in suppressing the virus, reveal the critical part vaccines play in steering beyond Covid-19. We cannot afford to be complacent about their impacts.

Malaysia has made some important steps to drive forward this intervention, including the purchase of millions of additional vaccine doses, and a manufacturing partnership for local biotech Duopharma to produce vaccines. The freshly established mega-vaccination centre in Kuala Lumpur’s Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) is also a valuable step and precursor to the recently announced 300 additional nationwide vaccination centres.

Ensuring equitable global vaccine access will be pivotal to a sustainable global solution and is central to discussions at the G7 summit. Covid-19 and its variants will never truly be eliminated — with vaccine hesitancy and healthcare access challenges — but a global commitment to vaccine provision is vital in mitigating the threat. It also paints a powerful picture of how innovations emerging during the pandemic could deliver a better world to follow.

These innovations did not appear in isolation but built on existing or emerging technologies. What they have shown is how, with the right policies and resourcing, such ambitions can change the long-term trajectory of global health. These innovations also leveraged existing relationships to build robust public-private partnerships, allowing us to implement measures quickly and effectively, revealing how collaboration can drive forward positive societal and health impacts.

Radical transformations in the provision of healthcare during Covid-19 offer the potential for persistent positive change in a post-pandemic world. While we are rightly focused on massive funding to ensure appropriate and equitable global access to vaccines now, the innovations and infrastructure designed to deliver them could promise greater opportunities for the future — if effectively sustained.

The current trajectory indicates a significant oversupply of Covid-19 vaccines into next year, offering a chance to pivot manufacturing, cold chain and administration capacity towards traditional interventions such as the pneumococcal vaccine or therapies for HIV/malaria, alongside innovative new vaccines for cancer or multiplex diagnostics.

Proof-of-concept for mRNA technologies — critical to several key vaccines — itself offers a path to remarkable innovation in treating indications from infectious disease to cancer. Leveraging an enhanced supply chain with 3D and flexible manufacturing technologies could amplify this opportunity significantly.

The transition of testing capacity for Covid-19 is another encouraging area. Now imagine that testing innovation — alongside digital capabilities used to track Covid-19 — rolled out to diagnose and track symptoms for a broad array of infectious diseases, or major conditions such as diabetes or hypertension.

Elements such as digital telehealth services saw renewed focus during the pandemic, unlocking wider access to healthcare. Leveraging non-traditional frontline healthcare workers to deliver an expanding range of services, as we’ve seen with mass vaccination, also offers significant potential, particularly in less-developed countries with reduced access to traditional healthcare.

Maintaining the spirit of clear communication and collaboration will be fundamental to delivering on this promise. Tailored communication that targets specific communities has been an invaluable part of tackling Covid-19, and one which should be maintained in future. That offers a pathway to better engage and treat conditions from mental health to maternal health.

It is clear from our experiences over the last 18 months that there is no balancing act that enables countries to successfully navigate a false trade-off between health and the economy. They are inseparable and intertwined. It is equally clear that vaccines form the foundation to a sustainable solution.

What we also wish to argue is the powerful opportunity we are now presented with — not just to build back to normal healthcare provision, but beyond it. The innovations adopted to tackle Covid-19 must be sustained and scaled to ensure a more resilient healthcare system going forward.

As a major health tourism destination and strong regional partner in Asean, Malaysia is positioned to provide a positive influence on this journey. That promises a future in which we can not only improve everyday access and engagement with healthcare but also position ourselves us to better tackle future healthcare threats that may emerge.

Vincent Chin is managing director and senior partner, and global leader for BCG’s Public Sector practice. Chan Harjivan is lead managing director and partner in BCG’s US Public Sector Health practice.

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