90-Second Read: Ebola, Hantavirus: Is the world prepared for the next pandemic?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that an Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a "public health emergency of international concern", setting off alarm bells around the world. But as the WHO faces a funding crisis, is the world better prepared now if another pandemic occurs, or could it be even less so? Following the recent Hantavirus outbreak, passengers and crew members from more than 20 countries on the affected cruise ship, MV Hondius, required coordinated monitoring, contact tracing, medical evacuation, and public health guidance across borders. The WHO's announcement on Sunday came as several countries are battling to contain a Hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship trip to South America.

In response, the WHO revised its financial plans and scaled back spending by cutting back some of its critical programmes, which has significantly curtailed pandemic preparedness, health experts told Al Jazeera. Following the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, the WHO has deployed experts, personal protective equipment (PPE), laboratory support and emergency funding while coordinating regional preparedness efforts. In May 2025, it adopted a Pandemic Agreement, which sets out what it describes as a "comprehensive approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response that improves both global health security and global health equity". US President Donald Trump announced the decision in January 2025, alleging the WHO had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.

These questions are particularly pertinent following the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in global lockdowns due to the lack of preparedness for the spread of the coronavirus. Besides funding issues, the WHO has been struggling to get world leaders to agree on a pandemic treaty for 2026 amid a pathogen-sharing dispute. These cuts affected 22 research initiatives and clinical trials focused on emerging pathogens, pandemic flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19 boosters, according to Harvard University's TH Chan School of Public Health. Reductions in funding for these types of programmes risk slowing scientific progress, limiting manufacturing readiness, and leaving the world less prepared when the next outbreak emerges.

Investing in research and development during peacetime ensures that when the next pandemic threat arises, the world has products and systems in place to respond quickly, protect lives, and avoid the economic losses experienced during COVID-19, it added. Besides adopting a Pandemic Agreement last May, in 2022, the WHO launched a fund in collaboration with the World Bank. But since 2025, the United Nations health agency has been struggling financially due to a lack of funding from donors.