Six years since the global coronavirus disease pandemic swept the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries around the world have made significant progress in dealing with future pandemics, such as pandemic preparedness, prevention and response.
“The pandemic taught all of us many lessons – especially that global threats demand a global response,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the opening of the 158th session of the Executive Board.
Background
In February 2020, the WHO declared an outbreak of COVID-19, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Countries and governments imposed lockdowns to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Thousands of people died in the aftermath of the global emergency.
Lessons learned and progress made
As the world tried to adapt to the new normal, WHO, member states and partners also delivered significant advances in tackling future pandemics.
First was the adoption of the historic WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025.
The agreement set out a comprehensive approach to prevention, preparedness, and response that improves both global health security and global health equity.
The International Health Regulations were also amended to strengthen national capacities.
The Pandemic Fund also provided grant funding totaling over USD1.2 billion to help catalyze an additional USD11 billion, supporting 67 projects in 98 countries across six regions to expand surveillance lab networks, workforce training, and multi-sectoral coordination.
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Another significant achievement was the updating of the Epidemic Intelligence from the Open Sources system of WHO’s Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
The update leveraged artificial intelligence to identify and react to new threats faster.
Genomic sequencing capacity has also surged in recent years and through the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, over 110 countries have strengthened genomic surveillance to track pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential.
Countries’ efforts to tackle health emergencies
Following the pandemic, 121 countries established national public health agencies to tackle health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and resilience efforts.
In addition, 20 countries have already completed joint External Evaluations, while 195 state parties filed annual IHR reports, and 22 countries finalized National Action Plans for Health Security.
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WHO commends achievements
The WHO believes that these were notable achievements that reflect a shared global commitment to work together, so the world could be better prepared for another pandemic.
Decisions made by WHO Member States have helped the world respond faster, reduce the damage of future pandemics, and stop them before they start.
But while this progress has made a significant impact, the WHO believes that these gains are fragile as it warned about the shifting of funding from health to defense and national security.
It also urged governments, partners, and stakeholders “not to drop the ball on pandemic preparedness and prevention.”
Is the world better prepared for the next pandemic?
If the WHO is to be asked, “Is the world prepared for the next pandemic?”, the answer is yes and no.
With countries putting real effort into preparedness, it’s clear the world is in a stronger position than before.
However, WHO believes that more efforts should be made to keep humanity safe and protected.
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