Oliver Barnes (“Nations yet to learn lessons from Covid”, Special Reports, September 12) is right that the world is failing to learn the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while he notes several possible causes, he misses the biggest one — namely the substantial reduction in overseas aid funding.
It is easy to understand why development assistance is seen as the first place to cut when there are domestic fiscal pressures, but these cuts are nonetheless leaving the world more vulnerable to emerging threats.
The Covid pandemic underscored that diseases know no borders, and that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Organisations like the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — all funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — require additional funding to stimulate innovation and build the health systems needed to prevent future pandemics. As governments consider their commitments to international development, they should consider the fact that it is always more effective, efficient, and ultimately less expensive, to treat emerging threats at source before they reach our shores.
Joe Cerrell
Managing Director
Europe, Middle East & East Asia
Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, London, SW1, UK
