Health Emergencies This page in:English Français Español العربية Русский 中文

Health Emergencies Health emergencies—caused by pathogens, natural disasters, climate-related events, or conflict—pose major health, social, and economic risks. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/pandemics Recent years have starkly highlighted the risk of major health emergencies and countries’ lack of preparedness to fight them. Between 2020 and 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in over 7 million confirmed deaths, an additional 70 million people living in extreme poverty, and well over $10 trillion in estimated economic losses.