The World is on the Edge of Even Greater Pandemic Damage

A new global warning on pandemic preparedness has highlighted growing vulnerabilities in the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to future disease outbreaks, despite lessons learned from Ebola and COVID-19.

The findings are contained in a report by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future, which concludes that the world is becoming more exposed to pandemics that are increasingly frequent, more severe, and harder to recover from.

The report notes that although several preparedness initiatives have been introduced over the past decade, they have not kept pace with rising risks driven by geopolitical fragmentation, ecological disruption, global mobility, and declining development assistance.

It also assesses major Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs) over the past decade, including Ebola in West Africa, COVID-19, and mpox, finding that global systems are still failing in key areas such as equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatment.

For instance, it highlights delays in vaccine access for low-income countries during the mpox outbreak—arriving nearly two years after the outbreak began—compared to 17 months during COVID-19, underscoring persistent global inequities in emergency response.

The report further warns that pandemics have had long-lasting social and political consequences, including weakened trust in governments, erosion of civil liberties, and increased polarization, which have reduced overall societal resilience.

It also cautions that future outbreaks may occur in a more divided and financially constrained global environment, making coordinated response efforts even more difficult.

While acknowledging the promise of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in strengthening surveillance and preparedness, the report warns that without strong governance, such tools could widen existing inequalities in access to health interventions.

“The world does not lack solutions,” said GPMB Co-Chair H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. “But without trust and equity, those solutions will not reach the people who need them most.”

The GPMB, which is expected to conclude its mandate in 2026, has proposed three key priorities for governments: establishing a permanent independent monitoring system for pandemic risk, advancing equitable access to medical tools through the Pandemic Agreement, and securing sustainable financing for preparedness and rapid response.

Co-Chair Joy Phumaphi warned that declining global cooperation could leave countries more vulnerable to the next major outbreak, stressing that preparedness is ultimately a test of political leadership.

The report was released as the World Health Assembly opened, where governments are expected to advance negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and a UN political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.