Finance and health ministers from the world’s largest economies are convening in Rio de Janeiro today to discuss pressing global economic and global issues, including the urgent threat of another devastating pandemic. The rapid spread of mpox and bird flu, and the recent Marburg virus outbreak, underscore the immediate need for new and sustained investments in pandemic preparedness to bolster our collective defenses.
As the former finance minister for Indonesia and the current health minister for Rwanda, we represent diverse nations, yet we stand united against the common threat of pandemics. Climate change, migration, urbanization, and a rise in drug-resistant infections dramatically increase the likelihood of dangerous outbreaks. Experts warn there is a more than 50% chance of another pandemic on the scale of COVID-19 within the next 25 years—and it could strike at any moment. As COVID-19 demonstrated, an outbreak anywhere poses a grave risk to everyone, regardless of wealth or location.
