No country is protected from pandemics unless all countries have the ability to prevent, prepare for, detect, and respond to health threats.
That is why September 25 matters.
On that day, world leaders will gather at the United Nations in New York for a High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR). They are expected to adopt a new political declaration outlining how countries will work together to strengthen the world’s ability to prevent and respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies.
For Canada, this is an opportunity to show leadership and help ensure the world is better prepared before the next crisis arrives.
We are calling on Canada to:
The world that is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is facing emerging infectious diseases threats and its most deadly Ebola outbreak, an outbreak tragically exacerbated by sweeping funding cuts to international aid from several key players, most significantly the US. This disinvestment of aid funding and increasing geopolitical instability threaten to undermine preparedness efforts, just when sustained international cooperation and long-term investment are needed most.
The lesson is clear: preparedness cannot begin when an outbreak is already spreading.
It requires sustained investment in disease surveillance, health systems, research, supply chains, health workers and the ability to develop and deliver vaccines, diagnostics and treatments quickly and equitably.
And importantly, preparedness is achievable.
A new analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that strengthening pandemic preparedness and response capacity across OECD countries would require an average of about US$7.1 billion a year. That investment would support critical measures such as disease surveillance, national stockpiles and other systems needed to respond quickly when health threats emerge.
That is a relatively modest investment compared with the enormous human and economic costs of an uncontrolled pandemic: 15 million lives and US$13.8 trillion stripped from the global economy.
The infrastructure built for pandemic preparedness also delivers benefits long before a pandemic strikes. Stronger surveillance can help detect other health threats earlier. Better health systems can improve everyday care. Stronger research and manufacturing capacity can help countries respond to a range of outbreaks.
This is why the world needs sustainable, predictable, and diversified financing for PPPR — not short-term funding that appears only when there is a crisis in the headlines.
We also need concrete commitments to the equitable development, production and timely access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. And we need to strengthen regional research and development, manufacturing and essential health-care workforce capacity so that countries and regions are not left waiting for lifesaving tools when the next emergency hits.
There is another important piece of the pandemic preparedness conversation: tuberculosis (TB).
Pandemic preparedness cannot be limited to threats that might emerge in the future. The same health systems, surveillance networks, diagnostic tools, research capacity, and equitable access to health technologies needed to prevent and respond to emerging outbreaks are also essential to tackling infectious diseases that are already affecting millions of people.
TB is a case in point.
In 2024, an estimated 10.7 million people fell ill with TB and 1.23 million people died from the disease. TB remains the world's leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Drug-resistant TB also remains a major public health and health security threat.
Recognizing TB in Canada’s intervention would reinforce an important principle: pandemic preparedness and the fight against existing infectious diseases are not separate agendas. They are interconnected.
The systems we build to detect disease earlier, strengthen laboratories, train health workers, develop new diagnostics and treatments, and ensure people can access care are part of the same global health security infrastructure.
Leaving TB out risks missing that connection at precisely the moment when countries are deciding how to strengthen pandemic preparedness for the years ahead.
Canada has long played a role in international efforts to strengthen global health security and the fight against TB. On September 25, Canada has another opportunity to use its voice.
Canada should show up at the highest political level, champion ambitious and adequately financed commitments to PPPR, and ensure TB is recognized as an essential part of global health security.
The next pandemic will not wait for countries to be ready.
Our best chance to protect lives is to invest in preparedness now — before the next crisis begins.
