Why Europe and UK must step up to challenge of global health

At a time when the threats to global health are increasing in scale and intensity, investment in global health is diminishing. Fernández and Dijkstra’s analysis in The BMJ (doi:10.1136/bmj-2026-090050)1 exposes a central paradox in contemporary global health governance that holds lessons for others: the European Union aspires to lead on pandemic preparedness and health security yet has struggled to translate its considerable financial, regulatory, and political capacity into credible leadership.2 In the current context of a fractured geopolitical landscape and needed leadership,34 this assessment should be read not simply as an institutional critique, but as a warning issued at a moment of profound global vulnerability.The EU’s difficulties coincide with the US’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and reduced engagement in other multilateral health initiatives,56 as well as with only partially absorbed lessons from covid‑19. Persistent weaknesses in preparedness for the next disease pandemic, inequities in access to countermeasures,…