Security
Six Years After COVID, Pandemic Risk Drops Off Africa's Risk Priority List
BirrMetrics · 4 days ago · Read the Full Story on BirrMetrics
AI SUMMARY
The UN's 2026 Global Risk Report reveals that new pandemics and biological risks have fallen out of the top ten global risks, with Sub-Saharan African respondents now prioritizing war, geopolitical tensions, and inequality.
- New pandemics and biological risks have dropped out of the top ten risks across all seven global regions in the United Nations' 2026 Global Risk Report.
- Sub-Saharan African respondents now place large-scale war as the most important risk, followed by geopolitical tensions and rising inequality.
- Climate-change inaction ranks fourth for Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by weapons of mass destruction, pollution, misinformation, a global financial crisis, natural hazards, and mass movement of people.
- The UN notes that rankings are based on perceptions rather than changes in underlying danger, warning that reduced attention could lead to fewer resources for neglected threats.
- Large-scale war jumped 16 positions globally in perceived imminence, with 36 percent of respondents expecting it within one year and 76 percent within seven years.
- Ethiopia confirmed its first Covid-19 case on March 13, 2020, following the WHO global pandemic declaration on March 11, 2020.
- The pandemic caused severe disruptions to African health services, with utilization of five key services falling by more than 50 percent during May, June, and July 2020 compared to 2019.
- The WHO African Region recorded over 9.5 million cases and approximately 175,000 deaths before ending Covid-19's status as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 5, 2023.
- The 2026 UN risk survey included 1,300 respondents globally, with 215 participants from Sub-Saharan Africa.
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