As noted in Michael Peel’s timely Big Read entitled “The hunt for ‘Disease X’ hiding in animals” (January 10), the rise of diseases from zoonotic spillover is putting people across the world under threat, but more dangerous is the inaction by global leaders to adequately invest in known solutions.

Covid-19 was a massive inflection point. Yet this still resulted in more words than investment and action.

If the unchecked spread of H5N1 bird flu in the US (including a first human fatality), the accelerant of climate change, and the knowledge that once zoonotic diseases transmit to humans they are harder to eradicate, if these are not reasons enough for governments to take action, what is?

“Hoping that we stay lucky”, as you put it, was never a strategy. Governments must act with urgency, and we know what to do. This includes making national, regional and global investments in systems and structures urgently needed to prevent, detect and respond to new and existing pandemic threats.

We salute the FT for this important article, and the partners cited who are working hard to keep us safe. But more is needed, and we must work together to drive both the attention and investment needed to save humanity from zoonosis threats.

Eloise Todd
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Pandemic Action Network, Brussels, Belgium