Overview
- The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, which issued its report Monday, says the world is less prepared than a decade ago, a warning that lands as the WHO declares a new Ebola emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- WHO tracking shows far more health emergencies now, with nearly twice as many events detected in 2024 as in 2015, driven by climate change, rapid urban growth, conflict, ecological strain, and more travel.
- The report says access to tools is growing more unequal, noting COVID-19 vaccines reached low‑income countries after about 17 months while mpox shots took 24 to 27 months, a pattern it calls a failure of governance and a “fatigue of equity.”
- The board estimates pandemic-era losses could exceed $50 trillion in global output from 2020 to 2030, with lasting social harm such as long school closures, deeper poverty, orphanhood, and mothers leaving work to provide care.
- The panel urges three steps now: a permanent independent system to track pandemic risk, a binding agreement to secure fair access to vaccines, tests, and treatments, and stable “day zero” funding, noting talks on new rules and financing remain fragile as its mandate ends in 2026.