As Harvard University professors warn, another pandemic is inevitable: “It’s just a matter of time.” Yet, international pandemic preparedness talks have stalled and major donor governments are less willing to commit funding — this waning enthusiasm is evident in lackluster fundraising for the Pandemic Fund. Added to this, the U.S. started a withdrawal from the World Health Organization on Donald Trump’s first day back in the presidential office.
WHO has been negotiating a global pandemic accord for three years and concluded its 12th round of unsuccessful talks last month. The Pandemic Fund, housed at the World Bank since mid-2022, garnered less than half of its fundraising goal in the pledging at the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers meeting in Rio last fall.
Pandemic preparedness is large-scale and complex work, so government buy-in has been a necessary condition. The United States and other donor governments have been integral to advancing pandemic preparedness in recent history, but facilitators are struggling to generate consensus, and it can be difficult for communities and minority groups to fully take part in top-down approaches to preparedness.
About the authors
R.C. Sadoff
R.C. Sadoff, MPH is a research program coordinator at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. They specialize in global health policy, infectious disease research, and international relations, and hold degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University.
Mark P. Lagon
Mark P. Lagon, Ph.D. is chief policy officer at the Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; adjunct professor in the Georgetown University Master of Science in Foreign Service program. He has headed: the State Department's anti-human trafficking office as ambassador; Freedom House; and anti-trafficking NGO Polaris. His areas of expertise include global institutions and governance, global health, and human rights.
Kunchok Dorjee
Kunchok Dorjee, MBBS, Ph.D., MPH is an assistant professor of medicine and international health at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a physician-epidemiologist, his work focuses on the prevention and control of infectious diseases at the population level, particularly tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
