By AFP
Five years after Covid-19 began its deadly rampage, the world is still asking: Is it ready to handle the next pandemic?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been leading efforts to assess potential threats and ensure the world is prepared. While the WHO believes the world is better prepared than when Covid first hit, they caution that significant gaps remain in global readiness.
View from the WHO
Asked whether the world is more prepared for the next pandemic, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently answered, “Yes and no.” He noted that although the world has learned important lessons from the Covid pandemic, it still faces many of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s director for epidemic preparedness, echoed this sentiment, stressing that the world is not fully ready for another major outbreak, despite improvements made since past pandemics like H1N1.
Expert Views
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, created by the WHO, issued a blunt assessment: “In 2025, the world is not ready to tackle another pandemic.” The panel pointed to ongoing issues like inequality in access to resources such as vaccines. Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans emphasized the success of mRNA vaccines but warned that vaccine hesitancy, fueled by widespread disinformation, would pose major challenges in future pandemics. Epidemiologist Meg Schaeffer noted that it could take four to five years for public health agencies to improve their systems for faster detection and data-sharing.
Mitigation Efforts
Several global initiatives are underway to improve pandemic preparedness. The WHO’s Pandemic Intelligence Hub in Berlin works on collaborative surveillance to better detect and mitigate health threats. The World Bank’s Pandemic Fund has granted $885 million to support nearly 50 projects in 75 countries since 2022. Additionally, a hub in South Africa was established to boost local mRNA vaccine production, and a Global Bio-manufacturing Training Hub in South Korea aims to strengthen pandemic responses.
New Global Alarm Button
In response to delays in action during the early days of the Covid pandemic, the WHO introduced a new, higher “pandemic emergency” alert level in 2023. This level requires countries to act rapidly and coordinate efforts to contain emerging threats.
Pandemic Treaty
In December 2021, countries began drafting a treaty focused on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response to avoid the failures exposed by Covid. While progress has been made, disagreements remain, particularly regarding the sharing of pathogens and the equitable distribution of vaccines. The deadline for reaching an agreement has been extended to May 2025.
Looking for Next Threats
Experts continue to focus on potential pandemic threats. Virologist Tom Peacock from Imperial College London stressed the importance of taking the risk of an H5N1 bird flu pandemic seriously. The WHO has tasked over 200 scientists to evaluate 1,652 pathogens, identifying more than 30 priority threats, including viruses responsible for Covid, Ebola, Marburg, MERS, SARS, and Zika. Additionally, “Disease X” is a placeholder for an unknown pathogen that could pose a future risk. Current efforts aim to develop broad tools and countermeasures to respond quickly to emerging diseases.