Global Health Security Index International Panel of Experts 2021 Meetings

In preparation for the Fall 2021 launch of the second Global Health Security (GHS) Index, members of the GHS Index International Panel of Experts are reviewing the index framework, discussing indicator weighting strategies, and assessing how the 2019 GHS Index compared to real-world outcomes of preparedness and mitigation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At virtual meetings in April, panel members discussed the importance of laboratory capacity, contact tracing, and political risks in expanding and weighting the pandemic-conscious report. Members underscored that despite the unpredictability of a pandemic still in progress, the 2021 GHS Index will incorporate important lessons learned from COVID-19 and will continue as an international benchmark for capacity and capability in times of global disaster.

The GHS Index is an NTI | bio project in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and The Economist Intelligence Unit. It serves as a tool for identifying gaps in national-level preparedness and illustrates the need for capacity development across major health security categories. In its inaugural edition in 2019, the GHS Index indicated that no country was sufficiently prepared for an epidemic or pandemic.

For more information about the GHS Index, visit: www.ghsindex.org