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.

A statement by the WHO 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 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.

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.

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,” Mrs 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,” Mrs 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.

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,” Ms 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 at the 79th World Health Assembly, where global leaders would collectively review international preparedness and response progress.

(NAN)‎