All countries ‘dangerously unprepared’ for future pandemics: IFRC

SWITZERLAND — The world is “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics after the COVID-19 crisis hit three years ago and killed more than 6 million people globally, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned in a scathing new report.

In its World Disasters Report 2022, the IFRC said “all countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks” despite COVID-19 killing more people than any earthquake, drought, or hurricane in history.

“The next pandemic could be just around the corner. If the experience of COVID-19 won’t quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will?” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the IFRC, the world’s largest disaster response network.

“There will be no excuse for a continued lack of preparedness after having gone through three terrible years.”

More than 6.8 million have died from COVID-19 worldwide since the pandemic began in early 2020, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

That’s more deaths than any earthquake, drought, or hurricane in recorded history has caused, the IFRC said in its report.

The world’s largest disaster response network said in the report that by the end of this year, every country should have updated plans for pandemic preparedness and “should have reviewed the relevant legislation to see if it too needs updating.”

Pandemic preparedness plans, the report says, “should include concrete measures to strengthen equity, trust, and local action.”

By 2024, according to the report, all countries should adopt a new treaty and revised International Health Regulations.

The world’s largest humanitarian network said building trust, equity, and local action networks were vital to get ready for the next crisis.

According to the report, countries must be prepared for “multiple hazards, not just one,” and societies can only become truly resilient by planning for multiple types of disasters, which can occur concurrently.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare cited the rise in climate-related disasters and waves of disease outbreaks this century, of which COVID-19 was just one.

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, and “our ability to simply respond to them is limited,” according to the report.

According to the report, major hazards disproportionately affect those who are already vulnerable. It was described as “self-defeating” to leave the poorest vulnerable.

The report said that countries should review their legislation to ensure it is in line with their pandemic preparedness plans by the end of 2023 and adopt a new treaty and revised International Health Regulations by next year that would invest more in the readiness of local communities.

The report also recommends that by 2025 countries should increase domestic health finance by 1 percent of gross domestic product and global health finance by at least US$15 billion per year.

“The important thing is there has to be a political will to commit to that,” he said. “If it is there, it’s possible.”

The recommendations were released on the third anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 an international public health emergency.

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