Today, GPMB has launched its vision statement Equity in pandemic preparedness: bridging divides for a safer world. The vision statement articulates GPMB’s priorities for improving equity in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR), and is released ahead of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA77), which runs from 27 May-2 June 2024.
In recent years, the world has lived through two major Public Health Emergencies of International Concern – COVID-19 and Mpox – and continues to grapple with multiple outbreaks of diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential such as cholera and avian Influenza.
Inequities, both within and between countries, have consistently undermined the world’s ability to prepare and respond effectively to these emergencies. People, communities and countries have been left without the resources to defend themselves against disease outbreaks, resulting in the rapid spread of disease, and further depleting the resources and social conditions needed to build resilience against pandemics.
Improving equity in PPPR has been a critical imperative for recent global governance reforms of PPPR, including the 2023 UN High-level Meeting on PPPR, amendments to the IHR (2005), and negotiations towards a pandemic agreement, for which urgent negotiations are underway in advance of WHA77.
The Board’s vision statement lays out a set of six priorities for policymakers to advance equity in pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response based upon GPMB’s experience of monitoring preparedness through COVID-19 and beyond, and on analysis from the GPMB Monitoring Framework.
About GPMB
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) is an independent monitoring and accountability body to ensure preparedness for global health crises. Co-convened by the Director-General of the World Health Organization and the President of the World Bank, the GPMB is comprised of globally recognized leaders and experts from a wide range of sectors, including health, animal health, environment, human rights, economics, law, gender, and development. It is tasked with providing an independent and comprehensive appraisal for policy makers and the world about progress towards increased preparedness and response capacity for disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. In short, the work of the GPMB is to chart a roadmap for a safer world.
In 2023, GPMB released its Monitoring Framework for Preparedness, designed as a single, authoritative framework to guide the Board’s assessments of progress.