The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) warns that the planet is not ready to face a new pandemic.
The report titled “A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Resilient Future Against Pandemics” indicates that distrust, geopolitical fragmentation, and lack of investment have created fertile ground for the next outbreak to be even more devastating than COVID-19.
Setbacks in Global Preparedness
- Unequal access to vaccines and treatments: doses against mpox took almost two years to reach low-income countries, even slower than the COVID-19 vaccines.
- Decline in development aid: current levels are the lowest since 2009.
- Political fragmentation: polarization and attacks on scientific institutions have weakened social resilience.
Impacts Beyond Health
Ebola and COVID-19 not only affected public health, they also eroded trust in governments, civil liberties, and democratic norms.
Politicized responses left societies more vulnerable to future emergencies.
Urgent Priorities
The Board identifies three key actions for world leaders:
- Independent monitoring: establish a permanent system to track pandemic risks.
- Equitable access: conclude the Pandemic Agreement to ensure universal diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments.
- Robust financing: secure resources for preparedness and immediate response on “day zero”.
Technology and Risks
The report highlights the potential of artificial intelligence to improve preparedness and monitor threats, but warns that without proper governance it could increase access gaps and reduce health security.
Technological innovation, without regulation, can reproduce inequalities already seen during COVID-19.
International Context
The document was presented on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly, while governments negotiate the WHO pandemic agreement and a UN political declaration. Co-chair Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović emphasized:
“The world does not lack solutions, but without trust and equity those solutions will not reach those who need them most.”
Meanwhile, Joy Phumaphi, also co-chair of the Board, stressed that preparedness is not just a technical challenge, but a test of political leadership.
The message is clear: time is running out. Pandemic preparedness requires international cooperation, sustained investment, and social trust. If commitments do not turn into measurable progress, the next crisis could be worse than the last. The world is on the edge, and global resilience depends on immediate and effective political decisions.
