Davos 2026: World Unprepared for Next Pandemic Amid Rising Outbreak Risks, Warns WEF

• Shyam Bishen of WEF warns the world is ill-prepared for another pandemic, despite increasing outbreak risks from climate change and geopolitical conflicts.
• Structural shifts like climate change and geopolitics are making disease outbreaks more frequent, while global coordination remains fragmented.
• WEF is collaborating with WHO and CEPI to develop a global disease surveillance system for early detection of new pathogens and variants, utilizing AI.
• Faster countermeasures require rapid data sharing with pharmaceutical companies, but progress on interoperable global data systems is hindered by geopolitical tensions.
• Concentration of vaccine manufacturing in a few regions (North America, Europe, India, China) is a vulnerability; WEF supports regional hubs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Why It Matters: The world is not ready for the next pandemic, with preparedness momentum slowing as risks rise.