Marion Koopmans at the World Health Summit 2022

Despite considerable effort invested in global pandemic preparedness over the last two decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to be better prepared to identify and respond to new pandemic and epidemic threats. Several high-level panels and commissions have recommended improvements to the global public health architecture, while both the G7 and the G20 have pandemic preparedness high on their agendas. A major challenge at both the global and country levels is how to build stronger and smarter surveillance, especially for rapid detection of unknown pathogens, coupled with effective decision-making and response capabilities.

A fundamental reality is that stronger pandemic and epidemic intelligence requires that all countries are better prepared and able to collaborate with each other effectively. For this, structural aspects are important such as international legal frameworks, financing mechanisms, improved multi-sectoral collaboration, and the strengthening of existing global public health organizations, including the World Health Organization.