The next pandemic is inevitable, and the world must urgently strengthen its defences against it, the World Health Organization’s directorgeneral warned Friday as countries gathered for a high- level United Nations meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Speaking at a media briefing, the WHO chief said the COVID-19 pandemic had been the most severe global health crisis in a century, killing at least 20 million people and costing the global economy more than US$10 trillion.
The crisis, the director-general said, exposed and deepened weaknesses in global health security—lessons the international community cannot afford to ignore. “The next pandemic is not a matter of if, but when,” the WHO director-general said.
The warning came as countries discussed a political declaration containing commitments to concrete, measurable and urgent action to address persistent gaps in pandemic preparedness.
The declaration is expected to reinforce international cooperation on surveillance, emergency response, access to medical tools and the legal framework governing global health threats.
Outbreaks show threats can emerge anywhere
The WHO chief pointed to recent outbreaks as evidence that infectious- disease threats can emerge rapidly and cross borders.
The ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the director-general said, demonstrates how an outbreak can begin in one location and threaten neighbouring countries and the wider world.
A hantavirus outbreak aboard the vessel MV Hondius offered another example of why international threats require coordinated international action.
According to the WHO, cooperation among countries and partners—particularly Spain—helped bring that
outbreak under control.
“These events reinforce the need for countries to maintain strong national systems while working together when an outbreak exceeds borders,” the remarks said.
WHO lists post-COVID initiatives
Since and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO has established 12 initiatives across six broad areas intended to bolster global health security.
They include the Pandemic Fund, developed with the World Bank, and the Universal Health and Preparedness Review to strengthen national capacities.
For surveillance and early warning, the WHO highlighted its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin.
The organisation also cited programmes aimed at improving equitable access to vaccines and other countermeasures, including the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, COVAX, the interim Medical Countermeasures Network, the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme in South Africa and the Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative in the Republic of Korea.
Other measures include the WHO BioHub in Switzerland, which supports the international sharing of pathogen samples, and the Global Health Emergency Corps, designed to strengthen response capacity during health emergencies.
The WHO also pointed to changes in the international legal framework. Members adopted a package of amendments to the International Health Regulations in 2024, followed by the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement last year—described by the organisation as a landmark instrument of international law.
Final agreement still under negotiation
One major element remains unresolved: the system governing pathogen access and benefit sharing.
Countries are continuing negotiations on how pathogens and related information should be shared, and how benefits such as vaccines, treatments and technologies should be distributed.
Although differences remain, the WHO director-general said there was confidence that countries could reach a compromise, as they had when negotiating the Pandemic Agreement.
Agreement on the outstanding issue is necessary before the treaty can move
toward ratification and enter into force, the remarks said.
WHO rejects “power grab” claims
The WHO chief also pushed back against what the organisation described as misinformation about the Pandemic Agreement.
Critics have falsely claimed that the agreement would transfer national sovereignty to the WHO, the director-general said.
“That is completely untrue,” the WHO chief said, stressing that the agreement was written, negotiated and adopted by sovereign countries acting in their own national interests.
The organisation’s position is that the agreement would not give the WHO authority to impose health policies on countries. Instead, it is intended to establish common commitments for preventing and responding to future pandemics.
“A shared threat demands a shared response,” the director-general said, warning that an “every-country-for-itself approach” would not work.
The same principle underpins the political declaration being considered at the high-level meeting, according to the WHO. The organisation thanked Member States for their engagement and singled out Armenia and Rwanda, the negotiating co-chairs, for their leadership.
The WHO said it looked forward to the declaration’s adoption and would support countries in carrying out the commitments they make.