A new report has found the world is no safer from pandemics now than during the Ebola virus outbreak a decade ago, or six years after the COVID-19 pandemic. An independent monitoring and accountability body Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) warns that a decade of investment has not kept pace with rising pandemic risk.

The report, titled ‘A World on the Edge: Priorities for a PandemicResilient Future’, adds that disease outbreaks are becoming more frequent and more consequential in terms of the number of cases and deaths, alongside increasing economic impacts. It comes just days after the outbreak of the deadly Hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship. GPMB is co-convened by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the President of the World Bank.

This is amplified by “a worrying equity fatigue” reflected in governments’ reduced political and financial commitment. “Following the surge in COVID-19 response financing, overall development assistance for health has returned to levels last seen in 2009,” the report states.

The GPMB identifies three concrete priorities for political leaders to reverse these trends: establish an AI-powered independent monitoring mechanism to track pandemic risk; advance equitable access to life-saving vaccines, tests and treatments by concluding the Pandemic Agreement; and secure robust financing for preparedness from the Pandemic Fund.

The report adds that the results suggest a “clear warning that sustained momentum is essential to prevent preparedness from slipping backward.”

It concludes: “The decade ahead is likely to see the emergence and amplification of infectious hazards intensify; the world is not going back to the pre-pandemic era. Climate change, demographic shifts, geopolitical volatility, and other converging pressures will continue to drive the challenges facing global health security.

At the same time, rapid technological advances offer powerful tools to help, but only if they are harnessed effectively and equitably. To navigate this new era, countries will need to enhance their multilateral collaboration as they invest more strategically and efficiently.”

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