European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib says speed, trust and sustained investment are critical to saving lives during disease outbreaks.
Lahbib made the remarks while speaking to the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing Pandemic Preparedness and Response in New York, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly.
Reporters monitored the session via webinar.
She said countries needed to move faster to detect and respond to disease outbreaks, noting that the speed of response could determine whether diagnostic tests, vaccines and other medical tools reached communities in time.
She also highlighted the importance of trust, saying a lack of confidence among affected communities could prevent medical assistance from reaching those who needed it.
According to her, the experience in Bunia demonstrated that pandemic preparedness was not simply about having medical products available, but also ensuring that systems were in place to deliver them quickly and that communities trusted the response.
“Pandemic preparedness is not built during a crisis. It must be built before the crisis hits,” she said.
She said preparedness required sustained investment in disease surveillance, vaccines and treatments, as well as resilient supply chains capable of responding rapidly when new threats emerged.
She said the European Union had provided nearly €500 million to support the response in the region.
She said the funding combined emergency assistance with longer-term investment in health security, preparedness, vaccines and treatments.
The commissioner said 11 Humanitarian Air Bridge operations had also delivered supplies directly to the region.
She said the operations highlighted the importance of having logistical systems that could be activated quickly when emergencies occur.
According to her, the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC is a reminder of why preparedness investments have to be made before a crisis.
The commissioner said the EU would invest more than €73 million in vaccine development in 2026 and 2027, working with partners including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
She said nearly €40 million in 2026 would support vaccine candidates targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
According to her, the investment forms part of broader efforts to ensure that vaccines and other medical countermeasures can be developed and deployed more quickly when emerging infectious threats are identified.
She also highlighted a European Vaccine Hub, backed by €100 million, to support work linked to the international “100 Days Mission”, an ambition to develop vaccines rapidly after a new infectious disease threat is identified.
The commissioner further said the EU was also supporting treatment development through a European Therapeutic Hub and the Global Therapeutics Development Coalition.
Lahbib said the EU was working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve tracking of global spending on pandemic preparedness.
She said the work would track resources being invested to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks.
According to her, a pilot involving several countries would be launched in the coming months.
She said better tracking would help provide a clearer picture of where preparedness resources were being invested and identify areas where financing gaps remained.
The initiative, she added, would also support accountability and more efficient use of limited resources.
She said EU Member States and the EU, collectively known as Team Europe, had contributed 42 per cent of the total budget of the Pandemic Fund.
The Pandemic Fund supports countries in strengthening their capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics.
She also highlighted the EU-funded BE READY Partnership, which brings together 81 partners to align research priorities and accelerate scientific work when a new health threat emerges.
Lahbib’s intervention came as the EU presented its position at the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response in New York.
Speaking on behalf of the EU and its 27 Member States, the bloc welcomed the political declaration’s emphasis on the primary responsibility of countries to strengthen pandemic preparedness.
The EU welcomed provisions relating to national preparedness plans, prevention, surveillance, early detection, emergency coordination and surge planning.
It also supported integrating pandemic preparedness into health systems, with Universal Health Coverage (UHC), primary healthcare, sexual and reproductive health services and a well-trained and resilient health workforce at the core.
The bloc welcomed the declaration’s recognition of the One Health approach as essential to preventing zoonotic disease spillovers and addressing antimicrobial resistance.
It further reaffirmed the WHO’s central role in the global health architecture and welcomed coordination between the WHO, the Pandemic Fund and other global health initiatives.
Despite its support for the overall objective, the EU said some elements of the declaration fell short of its expectations.
On technology transfer, it said such transfers should be voluntary and based on mutually agreed terms.
It also called for references to the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Agreement and Doha Declaration to be comprehensive and fully aligned with their existing provisions.
On financing, the EU said stronger domestic financing and reduced aid dependency should be complemented by international financing.
It called for pandemic preparedness financing-gap estimates to be accurate and up to date, while stressing that commitments should be realistic and respect decision-making processes in different jurisdictions.
The bloc also expressed regret that the declaration did not include a reference to a global financial tracker, which it said could help countries improve accountability, efficiency and resource mobilisation.
The EU further noted the absence of a reference to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, saying all available tools were needed to strengthen effective pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Despite its reservations, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to the overarching objectives of the political declaration and to strengthening global health security.
The bloc said achieving that goal required consensus, multilateral cooperation and a balance between national responsibility and international solidarity.
For Lahbib, the experience of responding to Ebola in the DRC demonstrated why preparedness could not begin only after an outbreak had started.
“Investments in surveillance, diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, supply chains, research and community trust,” she said, “must be in place before the next crisis.”
She also expressed solidarity with healthcare workers responding to emergencies, including those working on the Ebola outbreak in the DRC.
