New data shows no countries 'prepared' for the next pandemic

The Global Health Security (GHS) Index for 2021 was just released, measuring the preparedness of 195 countries for epidemics and pandemics in general. The results showed no country scoring in the top tier.

The top four scorers were the US at 75.9, Australia at 71.1, Finland at 70.9 and Canada, which rose to 69.8, up from 67.6 from the same index published in 2019. However, a score of 80 or better is required for a country to find itself in the top tier.

The following conclusions were drawn by the people responsible for the index, pertaining to all countries touched by the study:

1. Although many countries were able to quickly develop capacities to address COVID-19, all countries remain dangerously unprepared for meeting future epidemic and pandemic threats. A great opportunity exists, however, to make new capacities more durable to further long-term gains in preparedness.
2. Most countries, including high-income nations, have not made dedicated financial investments in strengthening epidemic or pandemic preparedness.
3. Most countries saw little or no improvement in maintaining a robust, capable, and accessible health system for outbreak detection and response.
4. Political and security risks have increased in nearly all countries, and those with the fewest resources have the highest risk and greatest preparedness gaps.
5. Countries are continuing to neglect the preparedness needs of vulnerable populations, which exacerbates the impact of health security emergencies.
6. Countries are not prepared to prevent globally catastrophic biological events that could cause damage on a larger scale than COVID-19.

The GHS index is compiled every two years by the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

It is comprised of several different areas that merge into one overall score. These are: "Prevent," "Detect," "Respond," "Health," "Norms" and Risk.