Research shows that even though Covid-19 has been used for over two years, the world remains unprepared for pandemics.
According to the Global Health Security Index, (GSH Index), all countries do not have the necessary ‘critical capabilities’ to respond effectively to Covid. They are also less prepared to deal with future pandemics or epidemics than in 2019.
The Index measured the preparedness of 195 countries for medical emergencies. It was developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
The United States proved to be the most ready to handle future medical emergencies. Closely followed by Australia, Finland and the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom came in at seventh.
The index showed that countries of all income levels were still unable to prepare for the future, in spite of the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has been under control over the past two years.
The Global Health Security Index revealed that all countries do not have the necessary ‘critical capabilities’ to respond effectively to pandemics in the future. The five levels (colour-coded below) of preparedness were not topped by any of the 195 nations.
It stated that the GHS Index 2021 continued to reveal that countries lack certain critical capacity, which limits their ability to effectively respond to Covid-19. This also reduces their preparedness to deal with future pandemics and epidemics.
In the index, which was conducted from August 2020 until June 2021, no country in the world ranked in the top of the five tiers, which is 80.1 to 100, with 100 marking the ‘most capacities in health security conditions’.
According to findings, the average score for 2021 countries was only 38.9 points out of 100. This is virtually unchanged since 2019.
There were four GHS Index categories with an average score below 40. These are the three lowest brackets.
United States was the country with the best score. This proved that it is the most well-prepared for future epidemics.
The United States was the nation most ready to respond to health emergency situations, closely followed by Australia, Finland and the United Kingdom, which ranked 7th.
It was still 0.3% lower than the United States score in 2019 GHS Index. This indicates that there has been no improvement since the Covid epidemic.
A staggering 161 countries were also shown to have low-to-moderate levels of confidence in their governments, with the United States being the most confident.
Overall, Australia was closely followed by the United States, who was given a score 71.1. Finland came third, with a score 70.9.
Canada was fourth in this category. Canada improved its 2019 pre-pandemic score by 2.2 and received an overall score of 69.5 in the GHS Index 2021.
With a score 67.2 (a decrease of 1.1 over its previous scoring), the United Kingdom was placed seventh in the second-highest tier.
Other countries that also earned a position in the top ten included Sweden, South Korea, Germany, Thailand and Slovenia.
The GHS Index found that despite being ranked in the top 10, every country was still incapable of effectively responding to medical emergencies. None were able to secure a spot in the highest ranking tier.
Although some countries may have developed new capabilities to combat the Covid pandemic in their respective countries, the GHS Index concluded they were temporary measures that were only meant to be used to address coronavirus and was not awarded ‘full credit.
The Index found every country is unable to effectively respond to pandemics, despite dealing with the Covid crisis (file photo of people wearing face masks in Dortmund, Germany)
It added that a country should demonstrate its ability to adapt to multiple disease threats in order for it receives a full score.
Preventing new pathogens is an area that countries need to be prepared for. This includes the coronavirus virus, the cause of the continuing pandemic.
This global average was 28.4/100. However, the report showed that 113 nations pay little to no attention to disease transmission from animal to human.
It was also found that only 155 countries out of 195 had allocated money for the preparation for pandemics or epidemics in the three-year period.
According to the Index, 70% of the countries did not invest in health care facilities, such as hospitals and clinics, during the same period. 90 countries, however, have failed to pay WHO contributions.
According to the report, many countries have significant gaps in their health security which has made them less ready for future emergencies and the Covid crisis.
It said: “The report 2021 offers a glimpse into how countries adapt during times of crisis, and how gaps in healthcare security could have hindered them being able to respond.”