MINSK, May 28. /TASS/. Western healthcare systems were less prepared for the pandemic than those in CIS countries, Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) head Anna Popova said Friday.

"Today, we see that a number of Western countries, their healthcare systems and infection combating methods, which were considered cutting-edge, turned out to be far less prepared for the pandemic," she told CIS prime ministerial delegations in Minsk.

She pointed out that threats of a biological nature are growing across the globe, noting that, in the last 10 years, mankind has faced Ebola outbreaks in Africa, a plague outbreak in Madagascar, Yellow fever in the Middle East and elsewhere.

"In 2020, the world became engulfed in the coronavirus pandemic, which has become a true stress test for healthcare systems. One year ago, the CIS prime ministerial meeting took place in an online format, amid uncertainty," Popova added.