Is Your Country Ready for an Epidemic?

According to Prevent Epidemics more than half the countries in the world are not prepared for the next big epidemic. Many of the most unprepared country are in Africa. Australia and South Korea are the two countries that are best prepared to cope with an epidemic. The United States is also well prepared to cope with a potential health epidemic.

Prevent Epidemics has mapped countries around the world based on how well they are prepared to cope with a major health epidemic. Each country has been ranked based on its ability to find, stop and prevent health threats. You can learn more about how prepared each country is on the Prevent Epidemics interactive map. Countries on the map are colored based on their 'Ready Score'. If you click on a country on the map you can view how the country ranks for the different criteria that make up its complete score. These includes individual scores for how prepared a country is for verifying an epidemic outbreak, preventing an epidemic and dealing with an epidemic.

The Prevent Epidemics ReadyScore is based on data from the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) developed by the World Health Organization. The JEE evaluates a country’s ability to find, stop and prevent disease threats. Every country page on Prevent Epidemics has a 'Take Action' button which provides information about the country's score and suggests simple actions users can take to help their country better prepare for future epidemics.