Expert says 4 key differences between US, Australia COVID-19 strategy - Business Insider

She previously served as a senior adviser to the US Surgeon General in the Department of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration, and also as a health policy adviser to the Australian Labor Party.She broke down four major differences between the Australian and the US coronavirus responses: Russell said one of the major differences between the US and Australian responses to the coronavirus outbreak was how both countries prepared in advance.According to Russell, in recent years Australia has boosted finances and personnel for its agencies responsible for monitoring indicators of infectious disease, including the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee — a subcommittee of the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC), part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) —  which coordinates efforts between federal and state governments. But when it's crunch time, facing a coronavirus pandemic, they have really all stepped up and the level of cooperation." Russell said that comparatively, US public health agencies were less prepared for a pandemic, despite early warnings.Russell said that in recent years, the Trump administration has "undermined the ability" of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — the US federal public health agency which has been at the helm of managing information related to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. According to Russell, the Trump administration has favored taking a "just in time" approach to handling the crisis.Trump has come under scrutiny for his administration's slow response to the coronavirus crisis, with reports indicating US intelligence warned Trump in January and February about the likelihood of a pandemic."Trump got a lot of information from the various arms of government — from the military to security councils, to the CDC —  that there was a threat of a pandemic," she said, "And it was ignored." Russell said that investing in agencies that deal with disease preparedness and prevention is crucial, though funding is easily cut as the threat of disease is not always apparent."Diseases and viruses prevented, don't show up on anybody's radar screen," Russell said. In Australia, Russell said, "we don't have Trump and America does, and that makes an enormous amount of difference." According to Russell, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has allowed health experts to take the lead in delivering messages to the nation."For a period of time, there was a bit of a conflict between Morrison wanting to speak up versus what the experts, like the Chief Medical Officer of Australia Brendan Murphy, was saying," Russell said. "It's not great in some parts of Australia, but I think it's better overall in Australia than they are in the United States." For some Americans, getting sick can lead to excessive healthcare costs and even bankruptcy."It isn't just a matter of addressing the healthcare issues associated with coronavirus," Russell said.