At this month’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, chaired by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, global leaders are expected to discuss the World Health Organization’s call for long-term investment in public health. Through its new Investment Round, the WHO aims to raise at least $7.1 billion to support essential initiatives over the next four years, reducing the need to rely on emergency funding whenever a crisis erupts.
A recent report by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board underscores the importance of this Investment Round. The GPMB, an independent body established by the WHO and the World Bank to enhance global readiness for public-health crises, issued a stark warning: a new mpox variant spreading rapidly across Central Africa has the potential to become a pandemic. Meanwhile, H5N1 bird flu continues to jump from infected livestock to humans in the United States, and an outbreak of Marburg – a virus related to Ebola with a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent – has erupted in Rwanda, prompting international efforts to contain its spread.
The risk of new pandemics is driven not only by factors like mass travel, urban population density and human encroachment on wildlife habitats, but also by widening inequalities within countries and an alarming rise in extreme poverty. Together, these forces do more than strain local health systems; they are reshaping the global health landscape in ways that make the emergence of novel pathogens increasingly likely.
In theory, our ability to contain outbreaks has improved, thanks to the significant scientific and technological advances made during the fight against Covid-19. But as the GPMB report warns, without “the readiness plans primed for implementation from day one,” there is “every likelihood that the next pandemic will again catch the world napping.”
Given the stakes, improving pandemic preparedness is essential. To this end, the GPMB report highlights 15 drivers of pandemic risks, such as unprecedented levels of global travel and a rapid increase in livestock production, both of which accelerate the spread of H5N1. Emerging threats also include widespread misinformation and distrust of public institutions – evident in the controversies over Covid-19 lockdowns, quarantines and vaccination mandates – that weaken our collective ability to respond to health emergencies and hinder multilateral cooperation.
The report also outlines several steps that policymakers could take to mitigate these threats and improve pandemic preparedness, including regular risk assessments and bolstering health-system resilience. First, however, significant funding is needed to meet the “basic needs of vulnerable populations,” provide access to “medical countermeasures” like vaccines and treatments, and foster cross-sector collaboration.
Beyond pandemic preparedness, the WHO urgently needs funding to provide basic care to more than four billion people who currently lack access, to curb the spread of communicable diseases and to address a surge in unvaccinated children.
Most critically, more than 360 million people in crisis-stricken countries like Afghanistan, Ukraine, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen require immediate assistance and specialised medical supplies to deal with the devastating effects of conflicts, famines, droughts and floods. To avert a global health catastrophe, the international community must ensure they receive the resources they desperately need.
Fifty-four chronic health crises are currently unfolding worldwide, 11 of them classified as severe. Despite this, a recent study by the research group Airfinity reveals that support for health projects in low- and middle-income countries has declined, with these initiatives receiving only about 10 per cent of humanitarian funding and just 5 per cent of the necessary resources. To reduce preventable deaths from treatable diseases, we must empower the WHO to fulfil its mandate as the world’s leading emergency health responder.
Recognising the urgency and value of investing in public health, 18 of Africa’s and Asia’s poorest countries have pledged more than $345 million to the WHO’s Investment Round. If developing economies can rise to the occasion despite their limited resources, it is imperative that developed countries contribute their fair share.
But the WHO’s Investment Round is more than just a fundraising campaign; what we raise this year to combat diseases like malaria, measles, diabetes, dysentery and Ebola will profoundly affect the health and well-being of millions of people around the world. Failing to provide the WHO with the funds it needs to deliver equitable vaccination, treatment and care would leave an indelible scar on humanity. We can – and must – do better. @Project Syndicate, 2024
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