The major pandemics in the history of Europe and their impacts in our civilization: challenges of modern public health

Abstract

The history of pandemics is intrinsically associated with the evolution of humanity. Throughout time, successive events of a pandemic nature, have occurred, which have largely conditioned the development of peoples. The millennial history of pandemics reveals the recurrent nature of this type of phenomenon. In recent decades, there has been growing concern about the risk associated with emerging diseases. The changes resulting from the model of social and economic development have contributed to worsening inequalities in relation to the living conditions of populations. Human concentration, mobility, the trend towards urban concentration, issues related to the environment and human behaviour persist as determining factors in the defence against different types of threats. The pandemic caused by the Sars-Cov-2 virus put to the test, in global terms, the levels of preparedness and response capacity of the different countries, revealing the fragility of the responses and the great difficulty in protecting the social groups most exposed to the disease. The contemporary world has technological instruments and capabilities at the level of scientific research and information sharing and knowledge generation, which make it stronger and better prepared to react to unexpected biological phenomena. Modern public health will have to prevent and anticipate potential and emerging risks, preparing citizens and health systems for a robust and appropriate response to such events.