"A World in Disorder"

"Financial and political investments in preparedness have been insufficient, and we are all paying the price. It is not as if the world has lacked the opportunity to take these steps [in preparation for the advent of an infectious disease pandemic]."

"[This year's report, entitled "A World in Disorder" pointed out that world leaders had never previously] been so clearly forewarned of the dangers of a devastating pandemic [yet had failed to take action]."

[The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed] a collective failure to take pandemic prevention, preparedness and response seriously and prioritize it accordingly."

"Pathogens thrive in disruption and disorder. COVID-19 has proven the point." 

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board Report

Heads of government must commit and invest

Countries and regional organizations must lead by example

All countries must build strong systems

Countries, donors and multilateral institutions must be prepared for the worst

Financing institutions must link preparedness with financial risk planning

Development assistance funders must create incentives and increase funding for preparedness

The United Nations must strengthen coordination mechanisms

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  In this photo taken Sunday, May 20, 2018, a team from Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) dons protective clothing and equipment as they prepare to treat Ebola patients in an isolation ward of Mbandaka hospital in Congo. Louise Annaud/Medecins Sans Frontieres via AP

"I would say that in our analysis of the data, looking at a variety of sources, the world is really quite poorly prepared."

"[Building the world’s emergency response capacity is a huge job], Not easy, to be sure, but I think we need to start by shining a big light on this."

"[World Bank investments in poorer countries could be tied to those countries using the money to improve their health care.] I think this whole issue is political. We need a lot of political will to make this happen."

"Everyone, including wealthier countries, needs to prepare. We are one plane ride away from someone carrying a major infection that can be an outbreak."

"People get all wrapped up when this happens, all want to act, and when it’s gone, they start forgetting it. ‘It’s not going to happen to me. It’s going to happen to somebody else.’ The fact that you need to put so much work and effort into preparedness — that’s the point we want to make." 

Dr. Victor Dzau, a board member and director of the National Academy of Medicine in the U.S

Forewarned is not necessarily forearmed. Not if the advice is noted, and the report laying out prospects and responses are shelved indefinitely. Nations governed by people who are no wiser than those they govern always believe that disasters occur elsewhere, and why waste time, resources and funding on some concept that may never eventuate? There are, after all, so many concerning issues to be addressed by governments large and small, wealthy or developing. With sometimes the best of intentions while shelving such issues as an imperative but not necessarily right now, the thought is that in good time it will be addressed ... 

And then, stunningly, it hasn't been and it is too late in any event.  And that's when remedial action is recommended, not quite the same as pre-preparedness, with its desperate emergency aura, but patchwork glued together with a hope and a prayer. Now, the world is being scolded by a UN body of substance comprised of medical scientists and politicians with experience in managing catastrophic situations -- if only in theory. Political leaders around the world have failed to heed the warnings issued by august bodies of great wisdom.

And the world is paying the great cost that has resulted from their inattention to priorities. An infectious disease whose rampant rise and destabilizing influence globally has arisen and hungrily seeks out victims be they humble individuals or ranking world-station nations. The anticipated-but-never-credited appearance of SARS-CoV-2 has transformed "a world at risk" to a "world in disorder", as the report on international epidemic preparedness has it, chidingly, chillingly.

The World Health Organization just reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday. The total number of cases worldwide rose by 307,930 in the period of 24 hours, one day, a staggering increase. India, the United States and Brazil are responsible for the largest increases which helped raise the global death rate by 5,537 to 917,417, almost a million deaths around the world caused by COVID-19. India reported 94,372 new cases, the United States 45,523 new infections, and Brazil brought up the rear with 43,718 cases.

As for deaths, over 1,000 new deaths were reported both in  India and the United States, with Brazil reported having lost 874 lives in the past day. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board is co-convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization, chaired by former WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland -- formerly three-term prime minister of Norway -- now chairing an independent watchdog monitoring the WHO. It's a complex world we live in.

The 2019 report of The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board  noted the existence of a real threat of "a rapidly spreading pandemic due to a lethal respiratory pathogen", warning an event such as this could kill millions while wreaking havoc on the global economy. The report was released just a few months before the novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China. The current report notes -- despite announcing a year ago that heads of government must commit and invest in preparedness for a pandemic, health systems required strengthening and financial risk planning must view the threat of a pandemic seriously -- limited progress was made.

Country Overall Rankings

Ranked: Global Pandemic Preparedness by Country

Overall, the rankings uncover a distressing insight. Global preparedness for both epidemics and pandemics is weak, with the average score in the index sitting at 40.2 out of 100.

The countries with the highest scores have effective governance and politics systems in place, while those with the lowest scores fall down for their inadequate healthcare systems—even among high-income countries.

Here are the 10 highest-ranking countries in the index:

Rank	Country	GHS Index Score
#1	United States	83.5
#2	United Kingdom	77.9
#3	Netherlands	75.6
#4	Australia	75.5
#5	Canada	75.3
#6	Thailand	73.2
#7	Sweden	72.1
#8	Denmark	70.4
#9	South Korea	70.2
#10	Finland	68.7

 

The report cites a lamentable lack of leadership exacerbating the pandemic. "Failure to learn the lessons of COVID-19 or to act on them with the necessary resources and commitment will mean that the next pandemic, which is sure to come, will be even more damaging", read the report.