Pandemics pose a human and economic risk in the 21st century.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused approximately 7.0 million lives deaths globally and will cost an estimated $12.4 trillion by 2024.
The risk of a pathogen emerging from zoonotic sources is increasing this century due to climate change, habitat loss converging with a growing population, and increased international travel. Old and new pathogens will continue to pose a threat throughout the 21st century.
We have the extraordinary opportunity, with lessons freshly learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, to move immediately to prevent a more devastating pandemic-prone disease from emerging and spreading. PAX sapiens is working to promote better global and local systems for pandemic prevention.
Pandemic Prevention funding is a fraction of the cost of COVID-19 relief.
The world has clear models for how to identify infectious diseases, respond quickly, and prevent pandemics from emerging.
They require political will and deep cooperation to execute and fund their development.
Such funding is a tiny fraction of the cost: the G20 High-Level Independent Panel (HLIP) calculated that global pandemic prevention could be accomplished with an investment of an initial $75 billion and a standing cost of $15 billion a year. Based on this assessment, the cost of COVID-19 could have paid for 823 years of prevention.
Our Focus
PAX sapiens works to fill governance gaps in three areas of pandemic prevention.
- We promote the development of technical capacity to detect diseases at or before the moment of spillover to human transmission.
- We support sustainable funding sources for global pandemic prevention efforts.
- We advocate for sustained political will prioritizing pandemic prevention.