The experts promise nothing good: we are terribly ill prepared for another pandemic and it is inevitable

In a recent report, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), an independent body created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, found that the coronavirus pandemic had shown how little the world was prepared. for this type of disaster, despite the vast amount of evidence. that a large outbreak of the disease is inevitable, writes sciencealert.com.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unpleasant test of global preparedness,” the report said. It concludes that, compared to the previous report, which was released before COVID-19 hit the world, there has been very little progress in preparing for pandemics.

“Failure to learn or respond to the lessons of COVID-19 with adequate resources and care means that another pandemic, which is also inevitable, will be more tragic,” the report warns.

GroMlem Brundtland, one of the GPMB leaders and former WHO chief, highlighted during a virtual presentation of the report on Monday that the council had warned a year ago that the world was ill-prepared for a pandemic.

“We have seen tragically and catastrophically how our greatest fears have come true,” he said.

“The impact of COVID-19 is even worse than we expected, but the action we called for a year ago has not been taken until now,” Brundtland said.

The report was distributed by experts at a time when the number of coronavirus victims worldwide is approaching one million and the number of positive diagnoses is approaching 30 million. These figures have been available since January, when the world first learned of the virus.

Panic and negligence

Brundtland, who is also the former prime minister of Norway, has said that the time has come to “break the cycle of panic and neglect” that is now feeling the catastrophic consequences of COVID-19.

The GPMB urges all countries of the world to cooperate and commit to significant long-term funding for pandemic preparedness and prevention programs. Not only the states have been contacted, but also the WHO and the World Bank.

The UN, WHO and global financial institutions, such as the World Bank, are called upon to convene a meeting of Heads of State to address threats to health with a view to reaching agreement on international standards and legal frameworks for the preparation for such threats.

According to Mr Brundtland, this framework should include, among other things, mechanisms to ensure continuous, sustainable and predictable funding at the necessary level.

“The return on investment in preparing for a pandemic is enormous. The cost of preventing and preparing for a pandemic is measured in billions, while the damage from a full-blown pandemic is in the trillions,” said GH Brundtland.

The current head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, backed the report’s findings, saying that “spending on health and preparedness is not charity. It is an investment in our future. “

He says avoiding investing in preparedness is “like waiting for a plane to crash, and only then are all kinds of safety inspections called: we wait for the whole city to burn up and only then do we decide firefighters are needed.”

Mr. Ghebreyesus emphasized that COVID-19 “will not be the last pandemic or the last global health emergency.”

“Every day we sit around is a day that brings us closer to another global health disaster: whether due to a disease outbreak, climate change, natural or man-made disaster. We don’t know which one will be the next. global health crisis, but we know it will happen and we must be prepared for it, ”he said.