WHO: Infectious Disease Outbreaks More Frequent, Impact Wider

JAKARTA - The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) formed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank states that infectious disease outbreaks around the world are becoming more frequent and have a greater impact.

The latest report on resilience to the pandemic released by GPMB on Monday (18/5) confirms that the world has not become safer from the threat of the pandemic.

"As the frequency of infectious disease outbreaks increases, the impact is also becoming wider - including health, economic, political, and social - and the recovery capacity is becoming more limited," the report said, quoted by ANTARA from Sputnik, Tuesday, May 19.

The board, which was formed following the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, warned that a decade of investment had failed to keep pace with the increasing risk of pandemics.

"After the surge in COVID-19 response funding, development assistance for health returned to 2009 levels and declined as part of overall development assistance," the report said.

The council, whose term ends in 2026, called for the establishment of a permanent independent monitoring mechanism to assess the risk of pandemics.

The report also stressed the importance of equitable access to life-saving vaccines, tests, and treatments through a global pandemic deal.

On Sunday, the WHO declared a public health emergency, although it has not been categorized as a pandemic, after more than 250 suspected cases and 80 deaths were suspected to be related to the Ebola outbreak in Congo.

The outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, which is different from the Zaire strain that triggered the outbreak in West Africa 10 years ago.