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LONDON: The collective failure of political leaders to heed warnings and prepare for an infectious disease pandemic has transformed “a world at risk” into a “world in disarray,” according to a report on International Epidemic Preparedness.
“Financial and political investments in preparedness have been insufficient, and we are all paying the price,” said the report by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB).
“It is not that the world has lacked the opportunity to take these steps,” he added. “There have been numerous calls to action … over the last decade, but none have generated the necessary changes.”
The GPMB, convened jointly by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), is chaired by former WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, who now also chairs an independent watchdog that oversees WHO.
The 2019 board report, released a few months before the new coronavirus emerged in China, said there was a real threat of “a rapidly spreading pandemic due to a deadly respiratory pathogen” and warned that such an event could kill millions. and wreak havoc on the world. economy.
This year’s report, titled “A World in Disarray,” said world leaders had never before “been so clearly warned of the dangers of a devastating pandemic” and yet failed to take adequate action.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed “a collective failure to take pandemic prevention, preparedness and response seriously and prioritize them accordingly,” he said.
“Pathogens thrive on disruption and disorder. COVID-19 has proven the point.”
The report noted that even though heads of government were asked a year ago to commit and invest in pandemic preparedness, health systems be strengthened and financial risk planning to take the threat seriously After a devastating pandemic, little progress had been made on either side. these.
Lack of leadership, he said, is exacerbating the current pandemic.
“Failure to learn the lessons of COVID-19 or act accordingly with the necessary resources and commitment will mean that the next pandemic, which will surely come, will be even more damaging,” he said.
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