The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 September 2026.
Statement by Helen King, UK Ambassador to ECOSOC, at the UN high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
As we gather today, families in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are losing loved ones to Ebola.
Thousands of people have died.
Health workers are risking their lives every single day.
And communities already living with conflict and displacement are facing yet another crisis.
Outbreaks spread when we fail to act early enough.
The lessons are clear.
We know what works: strong surveillance, trusted local health systems, scientific innovation, and rapid access to finance.
And we know that no country can deliver these things alone.
That’s why the UK is supporting the Africa-led Ebola response, investing £78 million to strengthen surveillance and frontline health services.
Through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, we are supporting the development of five vaccine candidates, with African and UK science partners.
On Monday of this week, the UK announced that it would invest up to £100 million in CEPI’s 3.0 strategy, which will support the development of new vaccines to combat pandemic and epidemic threats, including Ebola.
But we know that that is not enough.
Globally, we need stronger cooperation, faster information- sharing, and earlier financing so that countries can act before a crisis spirals out of control.
That is why the UK supports the development of the World Bank’s Day Zero Financing Framework.
This will enable countries to access financing for vaccines and treatments when the warning signs first appear.
It is also why we are committed to enhancing multilateral cooperation on health security.
This includes completing negotiations on the WHO Pandemic Agreement’s Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System.
Because preparedness is about solidarity.
COVID-19 taught us that diseases do not respect borders.
And the next pandemic will not either.
So let us act on the lessons learned and invest in preparedness to help build a safer and healthier future for all.