Interactive: Leading health security donors — and those that have dropped the ball

The SARS outbreak in 2002 and Ebola outbreaks since 2014 highlighted to the world the need for strong global systems focused on health — and how fast viruses can get out of control where weak systems exist. Funding health initiatives that think holistically about health security — that is, proactive and reactive activities that can reduce the impact of health events on the public across borders — is critical. Immunization and strengthening health systems are among the initiatives supporting health security. But it can also include research into emerging infectious diseases and establishing global and regional systems to detect and respond to health concerns. When it came to COVID-19, the investment that had been made in health security was not enough. The declaration of a pandemic saw an increase in focus — particularly from Europe — that more was needed. But there were some donors already focused on this space. Data available on the Devex funding platform provided insights into funding information — consisting of announcements, awarded contracts, grants, new programs, and tenders — for health security activities dating back to 2002. At this time, almost $61.3 billion in activities have been announced. This has resulted in $2.5 billion worth of programs established, $7.5 billion awarded in grants, $245.4 million in contracts, and $69.2 million through tenders. Analyzing the data through time, the spike in initiatives and funding that occurred in 2020 is evident. A total of 62 announcements focusing fully or partially on health security were made in 2020, valued at $23 billion — more than one-third of the total announcement values. In 2019, just 13 announcements worth $10.7 billion were for initiatives contributing to health security. In the first three months of 2021, there have been six new announcements with health security focus values at $11.4 billion — already higher than the 2019 total. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1616571602125' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='By Donor ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;He&#47;Healthsecurityfunding&#47;ByDonor&#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='Healthsecurityfunding&#47;ByDonor' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='no' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;He&#47;Healthsecurityfunding&#47;ByDonor&#47;1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1616571602125'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='650px';vizElement.style.height='1769px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='650px';vizElement.style.height='1769px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='3150px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> To support and understand health security investment, Devex has delved into the data to identify the landscape pre- and post-COVID — and which donors are not playing catchup. The pre-COVID landscape Prior to COVID-19, the United States Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services funded 117 grants and contracts targeting health security worth more than $4 billion. In 2014, DHHS awarded $140 million as part of its Global Health Security Partnership Engagement to expand efforts and strategies to protect and improve public health globally. In 2015, the number of health security initiatives expanded with a focus on Africa — including public health research in Kenya to build a base of knowledge needed to support policies and responses. From 2016 to 2018, more global and regional programs were funded — including support of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. Prior to and in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, more grants were announced. In September 2019, it announced a $500 million grant program “expanding efforts and strategies” to enhance global health security. And in December, an additional $500 million targeted awards to support projects strengthening regional field epidemiology training program networks. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also been a major funder in this field since 2016 when it first sought a health security adviser, a role supported by Abt Associates. The following year, a health security research adviser was added to the in-house expertise, with grants awarded supporting health security research in the Indo-Pacific region, and tuberculosis and malaria therapeutics and diagnostics — and the announcement of the Info-Pacific Centre for Health Security in 2017 meant the following year saw further capacity building and expansion of health security programs. Geographically, health security pre-COVID is more likely to be focused on global initiatives rather than country-specific activities. The presence of CDC and DHHS meant regionally North America was the second largest focus. East Asia and the Pacific followed, with Australia’s contribution, and Eastern and West Africa were the third and fourth largest focal regions, respectively. What shifts occurred with COVID? Geographically, Eastern Europe — a region previously overlooked — became visible in terms of the need for health security funding. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine became new recipients of funds to strengthen health security when the need became urgent with COVID. And the focus on East Asia and the Pacific grew as Indonesia became a priority focus for donors. CDC, DHHS, and DFAT continued to be important funders of health security following the global pandemic announcement. But the bulk of money in this period has come from European institutions including the European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, and Asian Development Bank. $17 billion was put aside by European institutions to address the global health crisis, while the ADB identified a health security focus in China as part of their local investment. But there have also been large contributions from government pledges to urgent health needs at this time — including vaccine development and responses in low- and middle-income countries. The data for 2021 so far suggests that growth will continue, with a potential record year for health security. But as history shows, funding declines as global health risks are in the rear-view mirror — and there is no guarantee that the growth will be maintained. For access to in-depth analysis, insights, and funding opportunities from over 850 sources — combined with Devex Pro news content — sign up to a Pro Funding subscription online today or get in touch to learn about our Pro Funding group options.