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News from 2019-07-11 / KfW Research, KfW Development Bank

Pandemics: Improving preparedness and response effectiveness

Development in Brief

One of the most serious Ebola epidemics is currently raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In mid-June, the first Ebola victim was also reported in neighbouring Uganda. The WHO had been warning for months against the spread of the epidemic to other parts of the Congo or neighbouring countries. Almost daily, a dangerous infectious disease breaks out somewhere in the world, which, if discovered too late or not detected at all, can spread rapidly across national borders and become a pandemic. In this world of growing mobility, health risks do not only cause human suffering but also high economic costs.

The current issue of Development in Brief focuses on pandemic prevention as a highly relevant issue and discusses approaches that can prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola and thus reduce the economic costs of pandemics for affected countries and the international community.

Pandemics: Improving preparedness and response effectiveness