By Franca Ofili
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the world faces worsening pandemic
threats, warning that investments in preparedness are failing to match increasing
global outbreak risks and emergencies.
A statement released on Monday said experts monitoring global preparedness
warned that infectious disease outbreaks were becoming increasingly frequent and
damaging, while widening health, economic, political and social consequences
weakened recovery capacities globally.
According to the statement, a decade after Ebola exposed dangerous gaps in
outbreak preparedness and six years after COVID-19 transformed those
weaknesses into global catastrophe, evidence now clearly demonstrates continuing
international vulnerability.
It said a new Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report, titled “A
World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future,” found infectious
disease outbreaks were becoming increasingly frequent, severe and damaging
worldwide.
The report said outbreaks were producing widening health, economic, political and
social consequences globally, while countries increasingly lacked sufficient
capacity and resilience required for effective recovery from major public health
emergencies.
It said the board warned that in spite of investments made over the past decade,
preparedness efforts had failed to keep pace with rising pandemic threats and
increasing international public health vulnerabilities worldwide.
“New initiatives have improved aspects of preparedness, but overall these efforts
are being offset by the growing effects of rising geopolitical fragmentation,
ecological disruption, and global travel.
“The report analyses a decade of Public Health Emergencies of International
Concern (PHEICs), from Ebola in West Africa to COVID-19 to mpox, assessing
their impacts on health systems, economies and societies,” it stated.
According to the report, the world was moving backwards regarding equitable
access to diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, in spite of repeated global
commitments aimed at strengthening fairness during major international public
health emergencies globally.
It said mpox vaccines reached affected low-income countries almost two years
after outbreaks began, which was even slower than the 17 months required before
COVID-19 vaccines reached vulnerable populations internationally.
“The escalating toll of such emergencies extends far beyond health and economic
impacts: both Ebola and COVID-19 damaged trust in government, civil liberties
and democratic norms.
“Amplified by politicised responses, attacks on scientific institutions and
polarisation that have outlasted the crises, leaving societies less resilient to the next
emergency,” the statement added regarding pandemic consequences worldwide.
The report emphasised that the real near-term risk of another pandemic would
strike an increasingly divided and indebted world, less capable of protecting
populations effectively than existed globally one decade earlier.
The statement said the report exposed all countries worldwide to potentially greater
health, social and economic consequences if governments failed to strengthen
preparedness systems and cooperation against emerging pandemic threats
internationally.
It said the report highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence and digital
technologies for preparedness, especially pandemic monitoring, but warned
inadequate governance could widen dangerous health security and access
inequalities globally.
Mrs Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, GPMB Co-Chair, said the world did not lack
practical solutions required for strengthening preparedness systems and improving
coordinated international responses against emerging and future pandemic threats
globally.
“But without trust and equity, those solutions will not reach the people who need
them most,” Grabar-Kitarovic said while urging stronger commitments toward
equitable international pandemic preparedness efforts worldwide.
“Political leaders, industry and civil society can still change the trajectory of global
preparedness if they turn their commitments into measurable progress before the
next crisis strikes,” Grabar-Kitarovic further stated.
She said the GPMB, expected to conclude its mandate in 2026, identified three
priorities for political leaders, including establishing independent monitoring
systems to track and evaluate global pandemic risks consistently worldwide.
According to her, leaders must advance equitable access to vaccines, tests and
treatments through the Pandemic Agreement while securing sustainable financing
for preparedness activities and immediate emergency “Day Zero” responses
internationally.
Dr Joy Phumaphi, GPMB Co-Chair, warned that if international trust and
cooperation continued weakening, every country would become increasingly
exposed and vulnerable whenever another major pandemic emergency eventually
emerged globally.
“Preparedness is not only a technical challenge, it is a test of political leadership,”
Phumaphi stated while emphasising the importance of cooperation and
accountability in strengthening international pandemic preparedness systems
globally.
“The report concludes by highlighting that leadership will be tested this year, as
governments work to finalise the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” Phumaphi said.
She emphasised this while speaking on ongoing global pandemic preparedness
negotiations internationally.
According to her, governments were also expected to agree on a meaningful United
Nations political declaration addressing pandemic prevention, preparedness and
response during ongoing international negotiations and policy discussions in 2026.
She added that the 2026 GPMB report would be launched on May 18 during the
79th World Health Assembly, where global leaders would review international
preparedness and response progress collectively.
