A Manifesto for Preparedness
Three Tests of Global Reforms
Overview
The world is overshadowed by the risk of pandemics. H5N1 is circulating widely in global animal populations, m-pox remains a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), outbreaks of Ebola have happened regularly, coronaviruses continue to pose a threat of spillover, and the COVID-19 pandemic is still causing devastation across the world. Yet worse may be in store. While we cannot tell the precise form that it will take, we do know that the next pandemic is coming.
There are several critical reforms of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) underway in 2023. The GPMB believes that, utilised to their full potential, these reforms have the potential to address longstanding failings that have resulted in botched responses to successive health emergencies and crises.
The Board believes that the success of these reforms will largely be dependent on the adoption of a coordinated, One Health approach to PPPR that involves all countries, international and regional organisations, financial institutions, and the private sector. To assess their success, the GPMB has identified three core tests of the fundamental requirements for global preparedness:
- Are reforms powered to address the catastrophic threat of pandemics?
- Are reforms designed to deliver equity in access and outcomes, and to ensure coherence within the ecosystem of PPPR?
- Is monitoring and accountability embedded in the reforms?
The Board believes that these core tests must be adopted by all relevant stakeholders to avoid fragmentation and break the cycle of panic and neglect that has undermined our responses to previous health emergencies.