In September 2019, A World at Risk scenario – WHO/WorldBank – “Prepare for the Worst: A Rapidly Spreading, Lethal Respiratory Pathogen Pandemic” – all countries must be prepared by September 2020, including developing a system for immediately sharing of genome sequences, means to share medical countermeasures across countries, and commit to financing and development of a universal vaccine.
September 18 2019
The document “A World At Risk” written by Global Preparedness Monitoring Board** (an arm of the World Health Organization & The World Bank), is used as a live scenario in October 2019, stated that
“We need a coordinated global experience of an accidental or intentional respiratory pathogen release which must be completed by September 2020 to put in place a universal capacity for public relations management, crowd control and the acceptance of a universal flu vaccine”.
**Global Preparedness Monitoring Board includes –
- WHO and World Bank Group (01) (02)
- WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and World Bank Group President Dr Jim Yong Kim co-led the creation of the Global Preparedness
- Dr Christopher Elias, President Global Development Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation USA
- Mr Elhadj As Sy, Co-Chair GRMB Secretary General, International Federation Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies.
- Dr. Anthony S Fauci, Director National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases USA
- Dr. George F Gao, Director-General Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention PRC
- H.E. Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Co-Chair GPMB, Former Prime Minister Norway, Former Director-General World Health Organization
- Dr. Victor Dzau, President of The National Academy of Medicine USA
- Heads of United Nations agencies & political leaders (03)
So, a couple of months before there’s an alleged pathogen, in September 2019, A World at Risk scenario was published stating that we need to “Prepare for the Worst: A Rapidly Spreading, Lethal Respiratory Pathogen Pandemic”, and that all countries must be prepared for this by September 2020. Including developing a system for immediately sharing of genome sequences of any new pathogen along with the means to share limited medical countermeasures across countries, and commit to financing and development of a universal influenza vaccine.
The language of an intentional release of a respiratory pathogen was written into the scenario that quote “must be completed by September 2020.”
September 10, 2019
Background Documents
- 2019, Sept 10: Advancing epidemics R&D to keep up with a changing world: Progress, challenges and.opportunities, Wellcome Trust
- 2019, Sept 10: Preparedness for a High-Impact Respiratory Pathogen Pandemic, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
- 2019, Sept 10: Pandemic Preparedness Financing: Status Update, World Bank Group
- 2019, Sept 10: The state of governance and coordination for health emergency preparedness and response, University of Oxford & Chatham House
- 2019, Sept 10: Thematic paper on the status of country preparedness capacities, World Health Organization
- 2019, Sept 10: From words to action: Towards a community-centred approach to preparedness and response in health emergencies, IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)
- 2019, Sept 10: From “never again” to the “new normal”: What does the 2018–2019 Ebola outbreak in the DRC tell us about the state of global epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response?, IOAC (Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee)
Global Preparedness Reports
They have since put out 2 more reports (which I haven’t had the time to go through yet):
- From Worlds Apart to a World Prepared – Annual Report 2021 – In October 2021, the GPMB published its third annual report, ‘From Worlds Apart to a World Prepared’. The report argues that the failures of the COVID-19 pandemic were rooted in inequality and inaction and exacerbated by geopolitical division. The Board calls for a renewed global social contract and lays out six solutions for a safer world.
- A World In Disorder – Annual Report 2020 – In September 2020, the GPMB published its second report, ‘A World In Disorder’. The Board described how the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed a collective failure to take pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response seriously. It called for urgent action across five areas: responsible leadership, strong and agile national and global systems, engaged citizenship, sustained investment, and robust global governance.
