e-Bulletin October 2025
IN THE MEDIA |
SCMP Spotlight:
Professor Malik Peiris on Pandemic Preparedness
Next Pandemic Inevitable, Top Hong Kong Virologist Says, and the World May Not Be Ready
The South China Morning Post recently published an interview with Professor Malik Peiris, our School’s Emeritus Professor and Honorary Clinical Professor, whose significant contributions to public health and virology earned him the 2021 Future Science Prize in life sciences.
Professor Peiris, who played a key role in identifying the SARS virus in 2003, warns that respiratory viruses like influenza and coronaviruses continue to pose the greatest global threat, with risks rising due to intensive livestock farming, global travel, and exotic pet trade.
He emphasises the importance of a holistic “one-health” approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health. Successful interventions, such as restructuring live poultry markets in Hong Kong and vaccinating poultry, have already shown how science-based policies can help reduce outbreaks.
Strengthening global coordination through WHO, investing in pathogen research, and prioritising prevention are essential steps forward we must take to prepare for the next inevitable pandemic.
To read the news, please click here for the link to South China Morning Post.
