Financing Gaps Could Delay Access to Emergency Health Supplies – WHO Warns
Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Countries could struggle to access vaccines, diagnostics and other medical supplies quickly during health emergencies if financing systems are not strengthened before crises occur, experts have warned.
The warning was issued at a joint workshop organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA), which examined how regional pooled procurement could improve access to medical countermeasures during outbreaks.
The workshop, held on June 8, 2026, on the sidelines of the Global Health Security Conference in Kuala Lumpur, brought together representatives of WHO, the Regionalized Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, among others.
Participants stressed that emergency financing must go beyond simply providing money to purchase health products, arguing that countries also need pooled financing, pre-financing arrangements and demand guarantees.
They said funding commitments would have limited impact without reliable demand signals and governance structures capable of converting financial resources into timely procurement and delivery.
WHO Director a.i. of the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, said regional pooled procurement should be treated as part of a wider emergency preparedness and response system.
“Regional pooled procurement mechanisms are part of a broader ecosystem that can respond faster, more equitably and dynamically to threats,” she said.
Deputy Head of DG HERA, Laurent Muschel, said the interim Medical Countermeasures Network had helped coordinate procurement requests during the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak.
“i MCM Net has been very useful to coordinate and prioritize procurement requests that reach HERA during the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, hence reducing duplication,” he said.
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