European Commissioner for Preparedness Hadja Lahbib told a G20 expert panel that countries need to move faster to detect and respond to disease outbreaks, drawing on her recent visit to Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during an Ebola outbreak.
Speaking to the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Lahbib said that speed can determine whether tools such as diagnostic tests and vaccines save lives, and that a lack of trust can prevent medical support reaching communities, in a speech released by the European Commission on Thursday.
She stated the EU provided nearly €500 million to support the response in the region, combining emergency assistance with longer-term investment in “health security, preparedness, vaccines, and treatments.”
Eleven Humanitarian Air Bridge operations delivered supplies directly to the region, she noted.
Tracking money and boosting access to vaccines
The EU is working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Health Organization to improve tracking of global spending on pandemic preparedness — the work to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks — and plans to launch a pilot with several countries in the coming months, Lahbib said.
She added that the EU will invest more than €73 million in 2026 and 2027 in vaccine development with partners including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), including nearly €40 million this year for vaccine candidates targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
A European Vaccine Hub backed by €100 million will support work linked to the “100-days ambition” — an international goal to develop vaccines quickly after a new threat is identified .
Lahbib also referred to work on treatments through a European Therapeutic Hub and EU support for the Global Therapeutics Development Coalition.
EU countries and the EU together have contributed 42% of the Pandemic Fund’s total budget through “Team Europe”, Lahbib said.
She also highlighted the EU-funded BE READY Partnership, which brings together 81 partners to align research priorities and speed up scientific work when a new threat emerges.
