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Global Pandemic Prevention
Pandemics are one of the greatest human and economic risks of the 21st century.
COVID-19 alone caused approximately 7 million deaths globally and an estimated $12.4 trillion in economic losses.
The risk of future pandemics is increasing due to zoonotic spillover, population growth, environmental change, and global mobility. Old and new pathogens will continue to pose a threat throughout this century.
At the same time, the world is making rapid progress in understanding how to detect emerging diseases earlier, respond more effectively, and prevent outbreaks from escalating. Yet gaps in coordination, incentives, and political will continue to limit implementation at scale.
Pandemic prevention is not a single intervention—it is a system that requires alignment across science, financing, and governance.
Pandemic Compensation Initiative Working Group Video
Why Prevention Matters
Pandemic prevention costs a fraction of pandemic response. Global models already exist to detect diseases early and stop outbreaks—but scaling these systems requires sustained political will and financing.
The G20 High-Level Independent Panel estimates that pandemic prevention could be achieved with:
- An initial investment of $75 billion
- A standing annual cost of $15 billion
By comparison, the cost of COVID-19 alone could have funded more than 800 years of pandemic prevention. The opportunity is clear: investing now can prevent far greater human and economic losses in the future.
Our Approach
PAX sapiens works with governments, researchers, and partners to strengthen global and local systems for pandemic prevention. We focus on closing critical governance gaps in three areas:
- Technical capacity
- Strengthening systems to detect diseases at or before spillover to human transmission
- Sustainable financing
- Advancing funding mechanisms that enable early detection and rapid response
- Political will
- Driving sustained global attention and commitment to prioritize pandemic prevention
Our Initiatives
Pandemic Compensation Initiative
The Pandemic Compensation Initiative is collaboratively designing a compensation mechanism to address the disincentives countries face in reporting emerging epidemics. The program offsets the economic risks associated with rapid disease reporting, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.
Innovative Financing for Pandemic Response
This project supports novel, nongovernmental, and sustainable funding mechanisms for effective outbreak detection and response. Early response saves lives. Rapid action depends on the availability of funding at the earliest stages of an event, when containment is most possible.
The Pandemic Risk Outlook (PRO) drives political focus on pandemic risk and prevention, keeping these issues central to global decision-making. PAX is advancing forward-looking approaches to assess, predict, detect, and respond to emerging pandemic threats.
Pandemic Prevention News Stories
Pandemic Prevention Publications
Leadership
The Global Pandemic Prevention Program is led by Sabeeha “Sabs” Quereshi, Vice President, with Senior Fellows Dr. David Bowen, Dr. Louise Gresham, and Dr. Rebecca Katz.
