World Not Ready: New Report Reveals Pandemic Preparedness Failures

A report released on Monday by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) indicates that the world remains poorly prepared to confront a new pandemic. The GPMB believes that the reforms implemented have not kept pace with the increasing pandemic risk. According to the GPMB, the evidence is clear that the health, economic, social, and political impacts of a new pandemic, the risk of which is considered real, have not decreased and are increasing in key areas. The board was established eight years ago by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank to prevent a devastating crisis like the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (2013-2016). Experts cited by the Spanish news agency EFE state that the world is not safer from pandemics. A new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo led the WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the second-highest level of alert, about two weeks after a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship caused global alarm. Experts point out that outbreaks of infectious diseases are becoming more frequent and harmful, with impacts extending beyond health, potentially severely affecting the economy. The report identifies three urgent priorities: creating an independent system for monitoring pandemic risk, ensuring solid funding for prevention and immediate response, and advancing equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments through the completion of the Global Pandemic Agreement. The report, titled 'A World