Convincing world leaders to prepare for future health crises is Joy Phumaphi’s job.
A former health minister of Botswana and the new co-chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, she leads the independent panel set up by the World Bank and the World Health Organization in 2018 to ensure readiness for global health crises.
The board warned in 2019 that the world was at serious risk should a disease outbreak occur.
Three years and an ongoing pandemic later, Phumaphi and the board want to help government leaders implement the lessons learned. But the world’s focus on the war in Ukraine and the pandemic’s economic consequences are making their efforts more difficult.
Phumaphi talked with Future Pulse about what countries should be doing now. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.