A study published in BMJ Global Health in July 2023 found that vast majority of countries that entered the COVID-19 pandemic with strong capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats achieved lower pandemic mortality rates than less prepared nations.
Preparedness matters: Accounting for age and national capabilities to diagnose COVID-19 deaths reveals that pre-pandemic investments in capacity saved lives—though U.S. remains an outlier.
The world is not prepared for the next pandemic, and bold action is urgently needed to prevent the next biological catastrophe, according to a new report from NTI.
As the world faces another concerning outbreak with monkeypox, the Global Health Security (GHS) Index continues to serve as a valuable resource for public health experts and decision-makers around the world to guide biosecurity and pandemic preparedness investment priorities.
While the 2021 Global Health Security Index reported that all countries remain dangerously vulnerable to future biological threats, it also showed marked improvements in preparedness in recent years for four nations.
The Index measures 195 countries’ capacities to detect, respond to, and respond from biological threats as well as political and social-economic risks, healthcare system strength, and country adherence to global norms and financing.
To keep and build on the levels of citizen confidence, governments must respond nimbly, sensibly and effectively in pandemic risk management. Trust matters in organising the activities, business and health of people.
Two years after publication of the inaugural edition of the Global Health Security Index, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between excess mortality during the pandemic and national preparedness as defined by the index.
Indicates 2026 scores for African countries