None of us are prepared unless all of us are prepared: research for the next health shock must be inclusive and equitable
Rich countries like the UK will need to match rhetoric with investment and action at home and internationally to ensure global health security and resilience to health shocks, write Ebere Okereke and colleagues The covid-19 pandemic revealed serious gaps in health systems readiness for health shocks and underscored the urgent need for inclusive and equitable preparedness strategies.1 As the world reflects on the challenges and shortcomings exposed, high income countries have a pivotal role in shaping research and investment priorities for global benefit, ensuring resilience for all. The current mpox outbreak shows again how absence of engagement and leadership results in health crises spreading worldwide, affecting populations far beyond their origin.2 The power to determine global health priorities remains concentrated in high income countries. Lack of meaningful representation of low and middle income countries (LMICs) in key institutions skews policy decisions and access to resource