Infectious disease represents one of the most potent risks facing humankind. Few events could cause such loss of life and damage to livelihoods. Yet the global community spends relatively little in protecting humankind from the threat of pandemics. As compared with our position vis-à-vis other threats to human and economic security, such as war, terrorism, nuclear disaster, and financial crises, we are underinvested and underprepared. Pandemics are the neglected dimension of global security.
Before the memories of Ebola fade, we should heed the wake-up call that tragedy represents. Global health security is a public good: making each of us safer depends on making us all safer; gaps in one community’s defenses are gaps in all our defenses. Global leaders can commit to making the world safer by implementing the framework created by the Commission’s recommendations.