WHO Report Says Global Health Investment Lags Behind Rising Pandemic Risk

A new report from the World Health Organization states that investment in global health research, prevention and preparedness has not kept pace with an increasing frequency and intensity of infectious disease epidemics. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, established by the WHO and World Bank, said in a report released Monday that the real near-term risk of another pandemic would strike a world more divided, more indebted and less able to protect its people than it was a decade ago.

The report found that infectious disease outbreaks are becoming more frequent and deadlier, causing more economic harm and leaving affected societies poorer, more unequal and more divided.

The board identified rising costs, declining public financing, rising inequality and eroding trust between countries and their citizens as the main reasons for concern. It labeled the erosion of trust and equity as the top cause for alarm. The report says countries are investing less in global health and systemic resilience, making the potential impact of future outbreaks greater.

Global attention to pandemic preparedness increased this month after an outbreak of a rare hantavirus strain on a cruise ship killed three people. Exposed passengers had returned to their home countries before health officials detected the outbreak, prompting contact tracing efforts in several nations.

The WHO on Saturday declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa an extraordinary public health emergency. The outbreak marks the 17th Ebola event in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the past half century, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report recommends that political leaders establish independent pandemic risk monitoring, enforce policies for equitable access to countermeasures and create sustainable financing not subject to annual political negotiation.