Global Pandemic a Big Threat, says International Panel

An international panel has alerted the world about the increasing pandemic that could kill millions and destabilize the global economy, Reuters reported. The reports were presented by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), co-convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It stated that in a world where on-going conflicts, migration and many other social issues are escalating; diseases such Ebola, SARS, and flu are increasingly tough to control. Therefore, governments must work to be ready to mitigate and tackle against it.

According to a report released by the group on Wednesday, “The threat of a pandemic spreading around the globe is a real one. A quick-moving pathogen has the potential to kill tens of millions of people, disrupt economies and destabilise national security.”

The reports added that several governments and international agencies have taken measures to prevent the spread of such pandemic since the outbreak of lethal Ebola during 2014-2016 in the Western Africa region. But those efforts are grossly insufficient.

In regard to the current scenario of the outbreak, the situation is being compared with the major Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 that took 50 million lives.

In comparison to the number of passengers that travel on aircrafts every day, if a similar kind of air-borne outbreak occurs then it could result in taking lives of people ranging between 50-80 million; wiping out five percent of the global economy.