After the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of Mpox, several side events at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly raise the question: Are world leaders ready to protect populations from the next global health crisis?

The global community faces a critical test—to turn the lessons learned from Covid-19 into concrete action or risk repeating the mistakes of the past.

Read: WHO declares coronavirus outbreak a pandemic

Despite some progress in pandemic preparedness, many experts warn that the world remains vulnerable to future outbreaks due to inadequate long-term planning and a lack of cohesive international cooperation.

Conversely, health experts and advocates are pushing for commitments to international cooperation, equitable access to vaccines, and establishing global surveillance systems that detect new threats before they occur.

The Pandemic Action Network’s presentation at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly indicated that world leaders do not have the long-term vision to protect people from current and future threats.

According to the presentation, the world remains deathly unprepared and slow to act even as countries face the third public health emergency of international concern in just under five years.

“Despite the evident global challenges that transcend borders, the leaders seem not to care about what happens to their people. People’s lives matter. We need to be able to spot tomorrow’s epidemic and pandemic threats to prevent their escalation,” said Aggrey Aluso, Director of Pandemic Action Network (PAN), Africa region.

He said despite the lessons learned from Covid-19, many African countries still face challenges in upgrading their healthcare systems and maintaining adequate medical supplies. He cited the current situation in light of the recent Mpox outbreak as an example.

He said this is contributed majorly by the shortfall in global coordination, equitable vaccine distribution, and funding for research to detect and prevent emerging diseases.

“African countries are particularly at risk, where inadequate funding and infrastructure limit the ability to respond to health crises,” he said.

According to data from the Africa CDC, the continent has recorded 5,731 confirmed pox cases and 724 associated deaths since the beginning of the year, with Kenya recording eight cases.

Read: Mpox cases soar in Africa: What we can do to prevent a pandemic

He said even with global awareness of the importance of preparedness, many countries still prioritize immediate economic and political concerns over long-term health security leaving the world in a precarious position, with underfunded health systems and fragmented pandemic prevention frameworks.

“The world faces interconnected existential threats such as impacts of climate change and pandemics which have increased in frequency and severity over the years, dealing a catastrophic blow to our economies, deepening inequalities across demography’s and geographies and reversing major development targets envisaged under of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"These existential threats pose great uncertainty to the current and future generation and cannot be left to chance,” Mr Aluso said.

He said that key negotiations, such as the intergovernmental negotiation body for a pandemic agreement, continue to progress worryingly slowly, weighed down by self-defeating corporate and nationalistic interests that run counter to the public interest.

“Put people first the escalating interconnected challenges facing humanity respect no borders as covid-19 pandemic and the current mpox outbreak illustrate.

"The world needs a solidarity-driven, equity-focused multilateral system that puts humans before profits and any other nationalistic interest,”

He adds: “We all now know that a threat of disease anywhere can be a threat everywhere, in no time. The global leadership must expedite the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body for the pandemic agreement and ensure the entrenching of a framework that anchors equity, accountability and public interest, including the removal of all barriers to enhance the distribution of capacity to produce essential medical countermeasures especially in low- and middle-income countries.

He said governments should finance investments that prioritize people and their planet, investments that protect populations by ensuring pandemic—and climate-resilient health systems, and not just huge profits for a few.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), reiterated the need for swift action. “The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when.

The gaps in preparedness we see today, especially in low-income and developing nations, could result in catastrophic outcomes,” Dr Tedros said.

Government-led negotiations for the world’s first agreement to protect people from future pandemics made significant progress on the draft agreement.

At the 11th meeting, the 194 member governments of the World Health Organization (WHO) committed to sustaining momentum towards a pandemic agreement. The negotiations will resume for a 12th round in November.

Dr Tedros said, “The next pandemic will not wait for us, whether from a flu virus like H5N1, another coronavirus, or another family of viruses we don’t yet know about,” Dr Tedros told the meeting.

“But all the ingredients are in place to meet the objective of countries to negotiate a generational pandemic agreement. The world needs hope that it is still possible for countries to find common solutions to common problems. You can provide that hope.”

Ms Precious Matsoso, the Co-Chair from South Africa, mentioned that there has been progress on critical areas of the draft agreement.

This progress includes research and development, strengthening regulatory systems, implementing One Health initiatives, preventing pandemics through technology, enhancing supply chain networks, and establishing a new system to increase access to pathogens with pandemic potential and to facilitate sharing benefits such as vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments.

“Following nearly three years of negotiations, countries are now focused on the remaining and most critical elements of the draft agreement to protect the world from future pandemics,” Ms Matsoso said.

Ms Matsoso added: “At the heart of the negotiations is recognition that collaboration among countries will ensure the world will not be left vulnerable in the face of future pandemics, while every country will maintain their sovereignty and control over national health decision-making.”