The European Union and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have called for stronger global preparedness against future pandemics, warning that rapid detection, sustained investment, public trust and international cooperation will be critical to reducing deaths from disease outbreaks.
European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said pandemic preparedness must be established before an outbreak occurs, rather than during a crisis.
Speaking to the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing Pandemic Preparedness and Response in New York, Lahbib said the speed of response could determine whether diagnostics, vaccines and treatments reached affected communities in time.
She cited the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a reminder of the need for advance preparation.
“Pandemic preparedness is not built during a crisis. It must be built before the crisis hits,” she said.
Lahbib said preparedness required sustained investment in disease surveillance, vaccines, treatments, resilient supply chains and community trust.
She said the EU had provided nearly €500 million for response efforts in the region, alongside 11 Humanitarian Air Bridge operations to deliver critical supplies.
She added that the EU would invest more than €73 million in vaccine development in 2026 and 2027, including nearly €40 million in 2026 for vaccine candidates targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, separately said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated the scale of the consequences of weak global health security.
He said the pandemic killed at least 20 million people and caused more than $10 trillion in economic losses.
According to him, the next pandemic is not a question of if, but when, making it necessary for countries to apply lessons from COVID-19 and strengthen preparedness systems.
Tedros said the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC and a recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius demonstrated that infectious disease threats could emerge anywhere and require coordinated international responses.
He said WHO had introduced several initiatives since COVID-19, including the Pandemic Fund, the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, COVAX, the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme and the Global Health Emergency Corps.
He also noted the adoption of amendments to the International Health Regulations in 2024 and the WHO Pandemic Agreement in 2025.
Tedros said completion of the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system remained necessary for countries to begin ratifying the Pandemic Agreement and enable it to enter into force.
Both officials stressed that effective pandemic preparedness would require stronger national health systems, early warning mechanisms, international financing, research capacity and cooperation among countries.
