The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the world faces worsening pandemic threats, warning that investments in preparedness are failing to keep pace with rising global outbreak risks and emergencies.
The WHO, in a statement released on Monday, said experts monitoring global preparedness warned that infectious disease outbreaks were becoming increasingly frequent and damaging, while the widening health, economic, political and social consequences were weakening recovery capacities globally.
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According to the statement, a decade after the Ebola outbreak exposed dangerous gaps in outbreak preparedness and six years after the COVID-19 pandemic transformed those weaknesses into a 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.
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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 despite investments made over the past decade, preparedness efforts had failed to keep pace with rising pandemic threats and increasing international public health vulnerabilities.
“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 statement said.
It added that the report analysed a decade of Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs), from Ebola in West Africa to COVID-19 and mpox, assessing their impacts on health systems, economies and societies.
According to the report, the world was moving backwards in equitable access to diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, despite repeated global commitments to strengthen fairness during major international public health emergencies.
It said mpox vaccines reached affected low-income countries almost 2 years after outbreaks began, which was even slower than the 17 months it took for COVID-19 vaccines to reach 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.
The report emphasised that the near-term risk of another pandemic would strike an increasingly divided and indebted world, less capable of protecting populations effectively than it was a decade ago.
It warned that all countries could face greater health, social and economic consequences if governments failed to strengthen preparedness systems and cooperation against emerging pandemic threats.
Pandemic preparedness
The report also highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence and digital technologies for preparedness, especially in pandemic monitoring, but warned that inadequate governance could widen global inequalities in health security and access.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, GPMB Co-Chair, said the world did not lack the practical solutions needed to strengthen preparedness systems and improve coordinated international responses to emerging and future pandemic threats.
“But without trust and equity, those solutions will not reach the people who need them most,” Ms Grabar-Kitarovic said while urging stronger commitments toward equitable international pandemic preparedness efforts worldwide.
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.
Joy Phumaphi, GPMB Co-Chair, warned that if international trust and cooperation continued to weaken, 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,” Ms 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,” She said.
She emphasised this while speaking on ongoing international negotiations on global pandemic preparedness.
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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 18 May during the 79th World Health Assembly, where global leaders would collectively review progress in international preparedness and response.
(NAN)
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