Former World Health Organization (WHO) Gro Harlem Brundtland warned of the threat of a flu-like outbreak that could kill tens of millions of people.
A century ago, the Spanish flu pandemic affected a third of the world's population and killed 50 million people. If a similar outbreak occurs now, the consequences could be much worse, the Global caughtup Committee (GPMB) report said.
"The threat of a global pandemic is real. A rapidly spreading pathogen is capable of killing tens of millions of people, disrupting economies and creating national security instability," the GPMB report - a committee consisting of health experts led by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland - former Prime Minister of Norway and former WHO Director General and General Secretary of the International Red Cross and Red Crosscalculture Movement Alhadj As Sy said on September 17.
The report, called "A World At Risk," said that current efforts to prepare for outbreaks following crises like Ebola are "not strong enough."
The report said that the recommendations made by the GPMB in a previous report were almost ignored by world leaders.
"Many recommendations are not considered for implementation, poor implementation or absolutely not implemented, serious losses still exist" - the Daily Mail quoted the GPMB report as saying.
The report is accompanied by a map with a list of diseases that could become pandemics worldwide. They are divided into "new wave", "re base" and "reviver".
Among the old epidemics were virus virus virus virus, Zika, Nipah and 5 types of flu. Later, there was the Nile virus, which is resistant to antibiotics, measles, acute multiple sclerosis, jaundice, epidemics and chickenpox.
The report mentioned the damage caused by the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and said that modern advances in travel today make diseases spread faster.
"With a large number of people traveling by plane around the world every day, a similar outbreak could spread globally in less than 36 hours and kill 50-80 million people," the report said.
The report outlines a series of actions that the international community must take to protect people around the world in case the epidemic goes beyond control.
WHO Tedros Director General Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on governments to pay attention to the lessons of the outbreaks and not to " lose cows to make barns".
In the recommendations, the research team said governments should spend money to prepare on-site and conduct regular simulation exercises.
The research team also called for more private investment in responding to the pandemic and the United Nations to do more to coordinate cross-border responses.
Earlier this year, WHO warned that another flu pandemic - caused by a virus spreading in the air - was inevitable, and the world should prepare for it.
