Experts warn that infectious diseases like hantavirus and Ebola are becoming more frequent and damaging due to climate change and geopolitical issues. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board emphasizes that pandemic risks are increasing faster than preparedness investments.
Key points
Infectious disease outbreaks are becoming more frequent and damaging.
Climate crisis and armed conflict are key factors in outbreak increases.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board warns of inadequate pandemic preparedness.
At least 87 deaths reported in the recent Ebola outbreak in DRC.
Mentioned in this story
Global Preparedness Monitoring BoardDemocratic Republic of the CongoUganda
hantavirusEbola
The world is becoming less resilient to outbreaks of infectious diseases, experts have warned, as health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda scramble to contain an outbreak of Ebola.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) said in a report published on Monday that “as infectious disease outbreaks become more frequent they are also becoming more damaging”, warning that pandemic risk is outpacing investments in preparedness and “the world is not yet meaningfully safer”.
Disease outbreaks are becoming more likely due to the climate crisis and armed conflict, while collective action is being undermined by geopolitical fragmentation and commercial self-interest, the report said.
A person in a white hazmat suit and visor stands on the tarmac next to an aircraft and is sprayed by a person wearing an orange protective suit and visor while others in protective clothing look on.
A passenger is sprayed with disinfectant by Spanish officials before boarding a plane at Tenerife airport, after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius, Spain, 10 May, 2026. Photograph: AP
The two outbreaks “are just the latest crises in our troubled world”, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of the UN agency’s World Assembly in Geneva.
Q&A
What are the main reasons for the increase in infectious disease outbreaks?
The increase in outbreaks is attributed to the climate crisis, armed conflict, and undermined collective action due to geopolitical fragmentation.
How many deaths have been reported in the recent Ebola outbreak in the DRC?
At least 87 deaths have been reported in the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
What is the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board's role in addressing infectious diseases?
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, established by the World Bank and WHO, assesses pandemic risks and preparedness, highlighting the need for better investments in health security.
What impact does climate change have on infectious disease outbreaks?
Climate change contributes to the increased likelihood of infectious disease outbreaks by affecting ecosystems and human health, making outbreaks more frequent and severe.
WHO’s representative in the DRC, Anne Ancia, told Reuters that in responding to the Ebola outbreak it had emptied its stocks of protective equipment in the capital, Kinshasa, and was preparing a cargo plane to bring additional supplies from a depot in Kenya. The International Rescue Committee and Médecins Sans Frontières aid groups said they had teams responding to the outbreak.
In Geneva, Prof Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy & Politics, said aid cuts may have played a role in leaving the world “playing catch-up against a very dangerous pathogen”.
He said: “Because early tests looked for the wrong strain of Ebola, we got false negatives and lost weeks of response time. By the time the alarm was raised, the virus had already moved along major transport routes and crossed borders.
“This crisis didn’t happen in a vacuum. When you pull billions out of the WHO and dismantle frontline USAID programmes, you gut the exact surveillance system meant to catch these viruses early. We are seeing the direct, deadly consequences of treating global health security as an optional expense.”
The GPMB report finds that new technologies, including novel vaccine platforms such as mRNA, have “advanced at unprecedented speed” and billions of dollars have been invested in pandemic preparedness and response.
Outbreaks had damaged trust in government, civil liberties and democratic norms, amplified by politicised responses and attacks on scientific institutions, the GPMB warned. These had outlasted the crises themselves and left societies “less resilient to the next emergency”, it said.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, GPMB co-chair and former president of Croatia, said: “The world does not lack solutions. But without trust and equity, those solutions will not reach the people who need them most.
Two people in a protective clothing and full helmet-type face masks in a laboratory
BioNTech researchers, who made the mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine in 2021. The GPMB cited mRNA as an example of the ‘unprecedented speed’ of medical advances. Photograph: Getty
“Political leaders, industry and civil society can still change the trajectory of global preparedness – if they turn their commitments into measurable progress before the next crisis strikes,” she said.
Countries failed to meet a deadline to finalise the pandemic agreement treaty before this week’s World Health Assembly in Geneva, after disagreements over guarantees of access to medical tests, vaccines and treatments in exchange for sharing information on any pathogens emerging on their territories.
The GPMB called on political leaders to establish a permanent, independent monitoring mechanism to track pandemic risk, conclude the pandemic agreement to ensure equitable access to vaccines, diagnostic tests and medicines, and put in place financing to secure preparedness and immediate responses to outbreaks.
Joy Phumaphi, the GPMB co-chair and a former health minister in Botswana, said: “If trust and cooperation continue to fracture, every country will be more exposed when the next pandemic strikes.”
