World Organisation for Animal Health urges $2.3bn annual boost to veterinary spending to prevent pandemics

The World Organisation for Animal Health calls for increased global investment in animal health systems to mitigate rising zoonotic disease risks and protect public health amid tightening budgets.

Countries should invest an extra $2.3bn a year in veterinary services and related animal-health systems to reduce the risk of diseases spreading from animals to people, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Its 2026 State of the World’s Animal Health report says animal health receives only about 0.6 per cent of global health spending, despite the economic and public-health costs of outbreaks.

WOAH argues that bringing national veterinary services up to international standards would be a comparatively small cost relative to the damage caused by major epidemics. The organisation said the funding would support surveillance, laboratory capacity, vaccines, regulation and inspection, as well as the veterinary workforce needed to detect and contain threats earlier.

The warning lands as governments face tighter public budgets and a string of zoonotic scares, from bird flu to Ebola, reinforcing the case for a One Health approach that treats animal, human and environmental risks as linked. WOAH says prevention is cheaper than crisis response, and that stronger veterinary systems are central to food security, trade resilience and pandemic preparedness.