COVID, mpox, cholera: Is the world prepared for another pandemic?

A health worker walks past a mpox treatment centre in Munigi, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Monday, August 19, 2024. The DRC will receive the first vaccine doses to address its mpox outbreak next week from the United States, the country's health minister said on Monday, days after the World Health Organization declared mpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency [Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo]

Some 4.5 billion people worldwide are currently without adequate access to essential healthcare services, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

This comes as more than 100,000 cases of mpox and at least 200 deaths have been confirmed globally, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, with the WHO declaring it a public health emergency earlier this year.