As the world continues to grapple with the lessons of COVID-19, global health leaders have renewed calls for countries to strengthen their public health institutions to better prepare for future pandemics and other global health emergencies.
The call was made on Sunday in Berlin during the 2025 World Health Summit, at a high-level session themed “Strengthening National Health Agencies for Future Pandemics.” The sideline event was organised by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme.
Speaking at the session, former New Zealand Prime Minister and incoming Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Helen Clark, warned that many nations remain ill-prepared for the next global outbreak despite the devastating impact of COVID-19.
“Most countries going into COVID-19 were not prepared for a pandemic. We must process those lessons and ensure they inform everything we do for better preparedness,” Clark said.
She described strong and autonomous national health agencies as the “institutional backbone” of global resilience, noting that effective preparedness requires legal authority, sustainable financing, cross-sector coordination, and the freedom to act on scientific evidence.
Citing South Korea’s post-pandemic reforms, Clark commended the elevation of its Disease Control and Prevention Agency into an independent body with direct access to top-level decision-making, describing it as a model for other nations.
According to her, the effectiveness of such national institutions will determine the success of new global frameworks, including the Pandemic Agreement and the revised International Health Regulations.
Clark stressed that pandemic readiness is not merely a technical issue but a governance challenge requiring transparency, accountability, and equity. She urged governments to invest in local capacity and access to essential health tools, saying, “Preparedness begins at home — no country should depend entirely on global markets to protect its citizens”.
Health experts at the summit agreed that global preparedness must start with empowered national systems, warning that without strong and trusted health institutions, the world risks repeating the mistakes that left it vulnerable during the last pandemic.
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