'World not ready for pandemic'

Success and speedy production of vaccines are a 'game changer'

An awkward question remains five years after Covid began its deadly rampage: is the world ready to handle the next pandemic? The World Health Organisation (WHO), which was at the heart of the pandemic response, has been galvanising efforts to determine where the next threat might come from and to ensure the planet is ready to face it.

But while the United Nations health agency considers the world more prepared than it was when Covid hit, it warns we are not nearly ready enough.

View from the WHO

Asked whether the world was better prepared for the next pandemic, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Yes and no".

"If the next pandemic arrived today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities," he warned.

"But the world has also learned many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us, and has taken significant steps to strengthen its defences."

Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, said it was a matter of when, not if, we will face another pandemic.

"There's a lot that has improved because of the 2009 (H1N1) flu pandemic but also because of Covid. But the world is not ready for another infectious disease massive outbreak or pandemic."

Expert views

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, created by the WHO, was blunt in its assessment.