By Edith Mutethya in Nairobi, Kenya |
chinadaily.com.cn |
A Ugandan worker collects a rubber glove from the airing line during a visit by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Mulago National Referral Hospital Isolation Unit, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo Virus, in Mulago suburb, of Kampala, Uganda, June 8, 2026. [Photo/Agencies]
Despite major advances in vaccine development and distribution, the world remains dangerously underprepared to deploy life-saving diagnostics and treatments during disease outbreaks, leaving countries vulnerable when new epidemics emerge.
A new report published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a peer-reviewed medical journal, warns that while a robust global ecosystem now supports the development, evaluation, procurement and deployment of vaccines, no comparable system exists for therapeutics and diagnostics. The researchers argue that this gap has become one of the weakest links in global outbreak preparedness.
