Earlier this month, global leaders in health, finance, international organizations, philanthropies, and civil society convened in Tokyo for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) High-Level Forum to discuss the future of health systems. During the Forum, the critical link between UHC and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) was emphasized, highlighting that these agendas are not separate but fundamentally interdependent. Health systems capable of delivering essential services to all without financial hardship are the same systems that must detect, prevent, and respond to disease outbreaks. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 by 2030 depends on expanding access to care while building resilient, primary care–anchored health systems that can protect populations from both everyday health needs and extraordinary health threats. Despite this, billions still lack coverage, and health shocks continue to expose systemic fragility worldwide.
Health security is national security, and weak capacity to detect and contain infectious disease outbreaks remains one of the greatest risks, particularly in Africa and low-income or fragile settings. Recent outbreaks, including Marburg in Ethiopia, Ebola in DRC and Uganda, dengue in Latin America and the Caribbean, Samoa, and rising avian influenza detections, underscore the constant and unpredictable threat of emerging pathogens. Investing in surveillance, testing, and early detection at the primary healthcare level is therefore essential. Early detection prevents transmission, saves lives, reduces economic disruption, and strengthens health systems in ways that protect the most vulnerable and reinforce trust in frontline services.
Momentum toward the UHC 2030 agenda is encouraging, but pandemic preparedness must remain central. Epidemics directly threaten the gains achieved in service coverage, financial protection, and human development. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that unprepared health systems disrupt economies, stall progress toward UHC, and reverse advances in education, nutrition, and poverty reduction in a matter of months. As countries work toward 2030, international financing must be strategically coordinated, used to catalyze domestic resources, and delivered through national systems to enable sustainable, country-led progress.
The Pandemic Fund provides a model for such an approach. Its country-led framework directs resources to nationally identified priorities and leverages additional co-financing from domestic and international partners. With a US$7 billion portfolio across 75 low- and middle-income countries, the Fund supports investments that strengthen primary care, train healthcare workers, expand point-of-care diagnostics, improve infectious disease surveillance and data sharing, and build or upgrade laboratories. Many recipient countries are simultaneously advancing national health compacts and reforms aimed at accelerating progress toward UHC.
While significant progress has been made, much more remains to be done. Strengthening pandemic preparedness is essential to achieving UHC 2030 and securing a healthier, safer future. The next outbreak with pandemic potential will not wait, making immediate and coordinated investment in resilient health systems critical for global health security.
