The Red Cross assessed the world’s preparations for the next pandemic. Canada isn’t ready.

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The International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), an association that forms the largest collection of humanitarian organizations in the world, is already talking about how to respond to the world’s next major pandemic.

In its 2022 World Disasters Report, the IFRC examines what the actions of countries around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic say about their capabilities to not only handle another global pandemic, but other climate-related disasters like heat waves, wildfires, and hurricanes. In its 247-page report released on Jan. 30, the IFRC did not give the world a passing grade.

“At the time of writing, all countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks,” the report reads.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic showing the world the importance of being prepared, countries are not ready for a public health emergency.”

The IFRC report pointed to the Global Health Security Index, an authoritative assessment of world health security, which scores national preparedness for health related emergencies like pandemics. While Canada had the fourth-highest score in the world –only Finland, Australia, and the United States scored higher – the IFRC noted that no country in the world scored above 80. The global average was 38.9, nearly identical to the Index’s global rating for the world in 2019, the year COVID-19 was first identified.

While world-spanning pandemics like COVID-19, Spanish influenza, or the Black Death occur around once a century, dangerous outbreaks can occur at any time. The Ebola epidemics, West Nile virus, and HIV/AIDS epidemics, all occurred between global pandemics and killed tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people. In a world where air travel is common, a new pathogen can easily spread around the world in a matter of days or weeks, whereas it once took months or years.

Of course, government healthcare systems don’t bear the sole responsibility for responding to a pandemic and all of its challenges – from treating the sick and administering vaccines to providing income support for those left unemployed by lockdowns. Humanitarian organizations, as well as local non-profits, philanthropists, and mutual aid societies all have roles to play when the next pandemic – whatever it may be – strikes.

Here are six reasons the world isn’t prepared, and how social purpose organizations, along with government and local communities, should step up:

 Climate change is making the world a more fertile ground for pandemics

Wildfires, hurricanes, and other climate change-fuelled disasters strain healthcare systems during outbreaks. Thanks to global warming, the rate and intensity of these storms is worsening, and the IFRC report found many countries were unprepared to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters at the same time. The IFRC recommends countries emphasize multi-disaster prevention, rather than treating every possible disaster as an independent event. 

 Habitat destruction is putting humans in closer contact with new diseases

Close contact between humans and animals, especially due to hunting or habitat destruction, is increasing the number of disease outbreaks worldwide – and humanity isn’t scaling back. “This means we are creating the conditions for more frequent disease outbreaks, some of which may become pandemics,” the IFRC says. The association proposes a ‘One Health’ approach to handling the next pandemic that integrates human and animal health into one perspective.

The world didn’t stress-test its pandemic responses before COVID-19

Many countries simply did not prepare for the massive undertaking of containing a global pandemic – from disease tracking to social support – and there isn’t much evidence to suggest the world’s responses have improved. Countries like Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan, which recently handled H1N1, were better prepared, but much of the world was caught flat-footed by COVID-19. “The central lesson of COVID-19 is that we must be prepared for a broad but credible range of disease outbreaks,” the IFRC report recommended.

Health authorities try to earn the public’s trust as a pandemic strikes – and not before

Top-down virus curtailment measures like lockdowns and vaccine passports can create resistance to public health measures. Instead of building a rapport with communities – especially those who had experienced discrimination at the hands of medical authorities – health messaging about the pandemic was largely impersonal, and missed core fears or perceptions of that community. Building trust requires “genuine two-way communication and coordination,” the IFRC said.  Including local communities and populations in all levels of disaster management design – including co-designing programs – is critical.  

Policymakers still think equity is just about vaccine access

The overall lack of equity in the world’s health systems leaves the world’s poorest populations vulnerable to the next pandemic. “Many known vulnerabilities were left unaddressed,” the IFRC report said. Instead of relying on earmarked humanitarian funding to address pandemics, countries should be able to access “more flexible, needs-based assistance across countries and time.” This might include giving local actors control over the transportation and distribution of vaccines themselves, as well as control over more preventative measures such as community health systems. 

Local preparedness for pandemics isn’t a priority

Many public health responses are nationally coordinated. This is a very effective way of supervising the flow of medical staff, equipment, and resources from one disease outbreak to another, but it misses local complexities. According to the IFRC, the world’s healthcare systems “have repeatedly failed to engage with communities during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Task shifting’ – the act of downloading some jobs, like moving PPE and screening patients, from disease specialists to community health workers, could free up more specialized medical staff to handle complex cases and help local communities feel more involved in pandemic responses – thereby improving overall trust. 

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