Health security needs to be integrated into the post-2015 development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The message of GHP Director Ilona Kickbusch et al. in the letter to the Lancet published on 21 March 2015 is clear: global health security risks, including epidemics and antimicrobial resistance, cannot be further neglected. Despite the importance of efforts to build stronger and more resilient health systems in the aftermath of Ebola, a more comprehensive, coherent, and effective framework is needed to deal with the full set of health security risks that we face at the local and global levels.

As the authors remind us, risk portends certainty, and a risk to one person, community, or nation is a risk to all people, communities, and nations. Action needs to be taken before the window of opportunity provided by the SDGs closes.

Read the full letter here.