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Index developed withoutbreaks, including where to prioritise
planning and durable funding.The 2021 GHS Index reached the sobering
conclusion that despite signifi cant steps
taken by countries to respond to covid-19,
all countries remain dangerously
unprepared to meet future epidemic and
pandemic threats.Even as many countries proved they
could ramp up new capacities during this
emergency—including setting up labs and
creating cohorts of contact-tracers—some
responses were crippled by long-unaddressed
weaknesses, such as lack of healthcare surge
capacity and critical medical supplies.Leaders now have a more acute
understanding of what this lack of
preparedness means for their health and
prosperity. The response to covid-19 has
shown that many factors —including public
health and healthcare capacities, scientifi c
understanding and countermeasure
distribution, and social and economic
resilience—shape how countries are able to
respond. Weaknesses in those areas have
contributed to a devastating loss of human
life and battered economies across the globe.In some countries with a foundation for
preparedness, high levels of public distrust in
government and other political risk factors
hindered their ability to successfully respond.
In other cases political leaders opted not
to use it, choosing short-term political
expediency over quickly and decisively
moving to head off virus transmission.One of the core principles of the GHS Indexis that global health security is a collective
responsibility. Although political attention
is high, unless the global community closes
gaps in countries’ abilities to respond to
biological threats, the world will face covid-
19’s staggering toll—or worse—again. The 2021
GHS Index report includes an action plan to
improve capacities and ensure the world is
prepared for the next pandemic:- Countries should allocate health
security funds in national budgets and
conduct assessments using the Index to
develop a national plan to identify risks
and address gaps - International organisations should use
the Index to identify countries most in
need of additional fi nancial and technical
support - Theprivatesector should use the 2021
GHS Index to look for opportunities to
partner with governments; and, - Philanthropies andfunders should
develop new fi nancing mechanisms and
use the Index to prioritise resources
Leaders have a choice: Will they sustain
new capacities and use the resources and
attention generated by covid-19 to fi ll in
remaining preparedness gaps for the long
term—or will they fall back into the decades-
long cycle of panic and neglect that will leave
the world at grave risk for the inevitable
health threats of the future?The Global Health Security Index assesses
195 countries across six categories, 37
indicators, and 171 questions. For country
rankings, fi ndings, and recommendations visit
ghsindex.orgBiological threats—naturally occurring,
accidental, or deliberate—have long been
a part of daily life, but in 2020, pandemic
became a household word. Even if covid-19
fades from our daily lives, global travel,
urbanisation, changes in land use, climate
change, advances in biotechnology and the
threat of biological weapons, ensure that
more threats will appear in the future, and
more frequently. To prevent the devastating
consequences experienced during the current
pandemic, we must identify weaknesses,
measure progress and strengthen global
health security today.
This is where the Global Health Security
(GHS) Index comes in. The GHS Index,
a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative
(NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for
Health Security at the Bloomberg School
of Public Health, working with Economist
Impact, assesses health security and related
capabilities across 195 countries. The GHS
Index informs leaders of the necessary
elements to prepare their countries for future
Jennifer B. Nuzzo,
Senior Scholar,
John Hopkins
Center for Health
Security
Jessica A. Bell,
Senior Director,
Global Biological
Policy and
programs, NTINew GHS Index fi nds all countries
remain dangerously unprepared for
future epidemics and pandemics