Un new bacterium it spreads rapidly from one country to another. Cases increase, health systems activate, governments coordinate. Information flows fast, decisions must be even faster. It’s not news. It’s one simulation. But it could be reality. This is the scenario imagined byWorld Health Organization with Polaris IIone of the largest global exercises ever mounted to test the response to a pandemic. For two days, between 22 and 23 April, 26 countries, over 600 health emergency experts and over 25 UN agency partners worked as if everything was really happening. Because, ultimately, there is only one question: would we be ready, today, for a new global bacterium?
After viruses, the risk is also a bacterium
In recent years we have learned about viruses. But the next emergency could have a different face. A bacterium it is not a virus: it is a living organism capable of replicating itself. And it can become especially dangerous when it develops resistance to antibiotics or spreads rapidly in an increasingly connected world. It’s not a far-off hypothesis. THE’World Health Organization already consider it today Antimicrobial resistance is a major global health threat (WHO, Antimicrobial Resistance, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance).
Inside Polaris II: What Happens When the World Tests itself
For two days, between April 22 and 23, 26 countries and territories, more than 600 experts and more than 25 organizations worked together to address a hypothetical global health crisis. During Polaris II: operational structures were activated, information flows were tested and international coordination was strengthened.
A realistic test designed to transform theoretical plans into concrete actions (WHO, Polaris II exercise, 2026).
The most important lesson: plans are not enough
One of the strongest pieces of evidence that emerged from the simulation is simple, but far from obvious: having a plan is not enough. On paper, many countries already have protocols, procedures and guidelines. But a health crisis cannot be played out on paper. It is played in real time, when information is incomplete, decisions are urgent and variables are constantly changing. It is precisely in this passage – from theory to practice – that the real ability to respond is measured. “Global cooperation is not optional, it is essential,” he said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO. Why no health system alone can manage a global emergency. Borders don’t stop a bacterium, but they can slow down – or speed up – the response, depending how well countries are able to collaborate, share data, align strategies.
And then there is the human factor: the ability to make quick decisions, coordinate teams, adapt to unexpected scenarios. “It is not enough to have plans on paper, what matters is how they behave in practice,” he underlined Edenilo Baltazar Barreira Filho. The difference, therefore, is not only made by the bacterium. It is determined by the speed with which the problem is recognised, the quality of communication between countries, the ability to transform strategies into concrete actions.
Technology and artificial intelligence: the new ally
During the exercise, the use of tools based onartificial intelligence to support:
- organization of the workforce
- emergency planning
- resource management
A clear sign of how the health crisis management is changing rapidly (WHO, Global Health Emergency frameworks).
A more prepared world (but is it enough?)
Polaris II is part of the program HorizonXdedicated to global simulations. Already in 2025, with Polaris I, the focus was on an imaginary virus. Today the focus broadens. More countries, more networks, more tools. But one awareness remains: the preparation is an ongoing process.
Because it affects everyone
A new bacterium is not just a health problem. It’s a global issue. It can emerge anywhere and spread quickly. And the capacity to respond depends on collaboration between health systems, institutions and communities.
The one simulated by the WHO is a pandemic that does not exist. But the fragilities it highlighted are real. Preparing means learning earlier, coordinating better, acting faster.