By Chioma Obinna
A decade after the Ebola outbreak exposed critical weaknesses in global health systems and six years after COVID-19 crippled economies and overwhelmed healthcare services worldwide, global health experts have warned that the world is now even more vulnerable to another devastating pandemic.
The warning came in a new report released by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, GPMB, titled “A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future”, launched on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly.
The report painted a grim picture of a world facing increasingly frequent and destructive disease outbreaks while global preparedness efforts continue to lag dangerously behind emerging threats.
According to the Board, rising geopolitical tensions, ecological disruption, rapid international travel and shrinking development assistance have combined to create ideal conditions for future pandemics to spread faster and cause deeper health, economic, and social damage.
“The world is not safer from pandemics,” the report warned, stressing that the next major outbreak could hit societies already weakened by debt, political instability, fragile healthcare systems and declining public trust.
The Board reviewed major Public Health Emergencies of International Concern over the past decade, including Ebola, COVID-19 and mpox, and concluded that the world is moving backwards in critical areas such as equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.
It noted that mpox vaccines reached many low-income countries almost two years after the outbreak began — even slower than the delayed rollout of COVID-19 vaccines during the global pandemic.
Beyond deaths and economic losses, the report said recent outbreaks have also damaged democratic institutions, weakened civil liberties and deepened distrust in governments and scientific institutions.
It warned that misinformation, politicized responses and attacks on science during Ebola and COVID-19 have left many societies more divided and less resilient ahead of future health emergencies.
Speaking on the report, GPMB Co-Chair, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, said the world already has the tools needed to prevent another catastrophe but lacks the political will and global solidarity required to protect vulnerable populations.
“The world does not lack solutions.
“But without trust and equity, those solutions will not reach the people who need them most. Political leaders, industry and civil society can still change the trajectory of global preparedness, if they turn their commitments into measurable progress before the next crisis strikes.”
Also speaking, GPMB Co-Chair, Joy Phumaphi, warned that growing global divisions could make future pandemics even more devastating.
“If trust and cooperation continue to fracture, every country will be more exposed when the next pandemic strikes,” she said.
“Preparedness is not only a technical challenge, it is a test of political leadership.”
The Board identified three urgent priorities for governments worldwide, including establishing an independent global mechanism to monitor pandemic risks, guaranteeing equitable access to vaccines and treatments through the proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement, and securing sustainable financing for preparedness and emergency response.
While acknowledging the growing role of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in detecting and monitoring disease outbreaks, the report warned that weak governance and unequal access to such technologies could widen global health inequalities and undermine pandemic response efforts.
The report concluded that decisions currently being negotiated around the WHO Pandemic Agreement and a proposed United Nations declaration on pandemic preparedness could determine whether the world is better protected against future outbreaks — or left dangerously exposed once again.
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