Why Africa, and the world, is dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic

As news spread about the Ebola outbreak in mid-May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced: report About the pandemic. The title was “A World in Crisis: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future.”

This document was prepared by WHO’s Global Preparedness Monitoring Committee. A decade after the Ebola outbreak, researchers reveal why the world remains poorly prepared for a pandemic. dangerous gap. And six years after COVID-19 turned that gap into a global catastrophe.

It added that investments in pandemic preparedness have not kept pace with the growing risk of a pandemic.

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board is an independent monitoring and accountability body established in 2018 by WHO and the World Bank. The aim was to strengthen preparedness for a global health crisis. It is comprised of political leaders, government agency heads, and world-class experts. Its mission is to provide an assessment of global progress in building and sustaining capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to health emergencies.

The report was released amid a resurgence of Ebola. This time we start in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On May 17, the WHO declared This outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern. This means a coordinated global effort is needed, as international spread poses risks to many countries.

As a virologist and former global health administrator, I believe that the monitoring committee’s diagnosis and recommendations are critical to managing the pandemic.

My first observation about this report is that its recommendations remain largely unimplemented in many countries. This is especially true in Africa, where the pandemic is rampant and the spread of disease is rampant.

Africa particularly needs to build confidence in its ability to prepare for, prevent and control disease outbreaks when they occur.

To achieve this, and in line with the recommendations, Africa must:

• Independent pandemic risk monitoring

• Medical worker competency and retention rate

• Equitable access to vaccines and other measures

• financing

• political attention.

Independent pandemic risk monitoring

African countries need to take ownership of their health solutions by leveraging local resources and finance and establishing data systems that uphold health sovereignty.

They also need to ensure that data from surveillance, research and pathogen processing is managed securely and accountable to African institutions rather than foreign entities. The recent agreement with the United States has brought this issue to the fore. Some called on African countries to sign away their medical data or release precious pathogens profligately in exchange for donor funds.

However, health data is an invaluable asset for public health, clinical management, and research. These help countries identify diseases and develop vaccines and treatments.

What African countries should do instead is to mobilize counter-funds for local procurement. These should be used to create local environments to support and strengthen the capacity of indigenous scientists and researchers to develop innovations from domestic/natural pathogens for global benefit.

Two African health institutions should be at the center of these efforts. WHO Africa Region and African Center for Disease Controlan institution of the African Union. Rather than competing, they must collaborate through centralized disease management and scorecard tracking to spearhead these efforts.

medical worker

Promoting health care workers’ health leads to growth, increased productivity, and national pride and loyalty.

It also helps with long-term retention of healthcare workers.

African countries need to prioritize capacity maintenance over capacity building. They must create and maintain a conducive work environment, including physical work space and psychological safety.

To function effectively and productively, it requires the availability of appropriate resources. This includes materials, laboratory equipment, consumables, reagents and consumables for trained African health workers and researchers.

Under such possible conditions, medical professionals can focus on relevant local health problems and find appropriate solutions to them.

Equitable access to countermeasures

Africa must not compromise on fair technology transfer, the waiver of intellectual property rights, and the ratification of international health agreements that guarantee robust manufacturing in the region.

read more:
African countries in the process of signing bilateral health agreements with the US: Virologists identify ‘red flags’

Countries must similarly expand local production of non-medical products as well as diagnostic kits, vaccines and medical supplies. This includes gloves, personal protective equipment, and masks.

This reduces dependence on external donations and supply chains during and outside of global crises.

sustainable financing

A bigger challenge for many African countries is the wastage of available resources and spending on misplaced priorities.

To address this, governments must commit to sustained investment in domestic health care. At the same time, mixed financing (involving both public and private sectors) should be used to fill the remaining gaps. Initiatives such as African Epidemic Fund Provides a practical model for building financial reserves for locally-led rapid response. Established in 2025, the Fund aims to mobilize resources to support preparedness and response efforts to combat public health threats on the African continent. Although the African Epidemic Fund is relatively new, it must be operated with the highest level of accountability. Regular updates should be provided on donations, supported projects and their impact on disease preparedness, prevention and control in Africa.

sustained political attention

African leaders must keep pandemic preparedness high on the political agenda to ensure continued resource allocation and accountability. Advocating for preparedness must be more than a political campaign slogan. It must be driven by regional organizations like the African Union. Countries must then translate their commitments into concrete national policies.

Vacations and holidays are not an option as we prepare for the pandemic.

African political leaders and elites have a critical role to play in achieving credible community engagement and engagement to ensure successful pandemic preparedness at the continental, national and sub-national levels. Above all, it requires active engagement and engagement with the community.