A deadly global pandemic could sweep across the world in hours and kill millions, a major report has warned.

Scientists say a flu-like illness would take less than 36 hours to spread due to our constantly-travelling population.

The critical report, known as the Global Health Security (GHS) index, was drawn-up by scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

They reviewed health care systems already in place across the world and found just 13 countries had the resources to put up a fight against an 'inevitable' pandemic.

Among the countries ranked in the top tier were Britain, the US, Australia,  Canada, France and the Netherlands.

But given how fast the outbreak is likely to spread, experts warn even these nations may struggle to curb the disease.

The majority of Africa was deemed the 'least prepared' of all the countries due to poor immunisation.

Countries in the EU 28 such as Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain and Norway, were considered 'more prepared', a tier below Britain and the US.

The GHS index makes recommendations that governments must ringfence money for putting preparations in place and do routine simulation exercises.

They also called for more private investment into countries' pandemic preparations and said the UN must do more to co-ordinate responses across international borders.

As part of the index the scientists studied how countries would deal with a pandemic, looking at a number of factors such as income, border security, health care systems and with political, socioeconomic and environmental risk factors.

The average overall index score was just over 40 out of a possible 100.

Scientists say this points 'to substantial weaknesses in preparedness'.

But they found that even among the 60 high-income countries assessed, the average score was barely over 50.

Writing in their report, the scientists said: "The Index, which serves as a barometer for global preparedness, is based on a central tenet: a threat anywhere is a threat everywhere.

"Deadly infectious diseases can travel quickly; increased global mobility through air travel means that a disease outbreak in one country can spread across the world in a matter of hours."

Last month a report from a group headed by a former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief issued a stark warning that Disease X was on the horizon.

The report, named A World At Risk, said current efforts to prepare for outbreaks in the wake of crises such as Ebola are 'grossly insufficient' and referenced the damage done by the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and said modern advances in international travel would help the disease spread faster.

A century ago the Spanish flu pandemic infected a third of the world's population and killed 50million people.

But more recently an Ebola epidemic in West Africa claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people.

Another outbreak of the deadly virus has killed 2,100 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the fatalities are rising.

Leo Abruzzese, senior global advisor at The Economist Intelligence Unit, who helped compile the report, said the report helped to identify important gaps in global preparedness.

"Without a way of identifying gaps in the system, we're much more vulnerable than we need to be," he said.

"The index is Specific enough to provide a roadmap for how countries can respond, and gives donors and funders a tool for directing their resources."

Source: Read Full Article