Critical Appraisal of the Coronavirus Preparedness among Countries using the Global Health Security Index

Introduction: This critical study was aimed to investigate the utility of the Global Health Security Index (GHSI) in predicting the current COVID-19 responses.Material and Methods: Number of infected patients, deaths, incidence and the death rate per 100,000 populations related to 55 countries per week for 26 weeks were extracted. The relationship of GHSI scores and country preparedness for the pandemic was compared.Results: According to the GHSI, the incidence rate in most prepared countries was higher than the incidence rate in the more prepared countries, and which was higher than the incidence rate in the least prepared countries. However, Prevention, Detection and reporting, Rapid response, Health system, compliance with international norms and Risk environment, as well as Overall, the incidence and death rate per 100,000 people have not been like this.Conclusion: Due to mismatch between the GHSI score and fact about COVID-19 incidence, it seems necessary to investigate the factors involved in this discrepancy.