The world is “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics after the COVID-19 disaster hit three years in the past and killed greater than 6 million folks globally, the Worldwide Federation of the Purple Cross and Purple Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned in a scathing new report.
The humanitarian help group stated in its World Disasters Report launched Monday that “many international locations” weren’t ready for COVID-19 and that “all international locations stay dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks”.
The IFRC stated that international locations “want to start out making ready now, as a result of our world is turning into more and more hazardous” because it cautioned in opposition to not solely illness outbreaks but in addition climate- and weather-related disasters.
“The COVID-19 pandemic ought to be a wake-up name for the worldwide group to arrange now for the following well being disaster,” Jagan Chapagain, the IFRC’s secretary common, stated in a press release.
Chapagain added, “Our suggestions to world leaders focus on constructing belief, tackling inequality, and leveraging native actors and communities to carry out life-saving work.”
“The subsequent pandemic might be simply across the nook; if the expertise of COVID-19 will not quicken our steps towards preparedness, what’s going to?” he questioned.
Greater than 6.8 million have died from COVID-19 worldwide because the pandemic started in early 2020, in accordance with the newest information compiled by Johns Hopkins College.
That is extra deaths than any earthquake, drought, or hurricane in recorded historical past has precipitated, the IFRC stated in its report.
The world’s largest catastrophe response community stated within the report that by the tip of this yr, each nation ought to have up to date plans for pandemic preparedness and “ought to have reviewed the related laws to see if it too wants updating”.
Pandemic preparedness plans, the report says, “ought to embody concrete measures to strengthen fairness, belief, and native motion”.
By 2024, in accordance with the report, all international locations ought to undertake a brand new treaty and revised Worldwide Well being Rules.
The report additionally recommends that by 2025 international locations ought to improve home well being finance by 1 p.c of gross home product and international well being finance by at the very least US$15 billion per yr.
“Whereas COVID-19 was a brand new virus that offered new challenges, there are numerous frequent measures and approaches that would have mitigated the pandemic’s impacts,” Chapagain stated within the report.
“Notably, governments may have made far better funding in emergency preparedness on the group stage.”
He continued, “To make sure that we don’t repeat the identical errors, the vital classes from this pandemic should be embedded into nationwide legal guidelines, insurance policies, budgets and actions”.
This text was initially revealed by Enterprise Insider.
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