Cooperation is the key to global public health

The Covid-19 crisis has taught the world fundamental lessons about the importance of global cooperation to combat disease. But this cooperation is being put to the test, as are the conditions needed to sustain it. Future funding for health and science is being challenged, and cuts in development assistance by some traditional donors are calling into question our ability to prevent and respond to infectious diseases in the world's most fragile countries.

To ensure future pandemic resistance, these gaps must be filled. The key to success lies in strong and innovative new partnerships between multinational organisations, public and private institutions and civil society. Recent experience teaches us that strong global partnerships work. Five years ago, we managed to overcome vaccine nationalism (the hoarding of limited supplies) in formulating the global response to COVID-19.

Gavi, a global alliance of public, private and civil society groups, partnered with the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group - the financial arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States - to mobilise €600 million ($720 million) in donor funding for the COVAX initiative. Without this funding, COVAX would not have been able to move at the speed and scale that led to the delivery of nearly two billion doses of vaccine. More than 100 (mostly) poor countries benefited because we had the foresight to respond to the pandemic in a cooperative manner.

The benefits were not limited to these countries. Remember the mantra of the pandemic: 'No one is safe until everyone is safe'. More widespread and prolonged shutdowns meant greater disruptions to supply chains and the global economy. The faster we were able to provide access to analysis, monitoring and contact tracing technology, the better we were able to detect new variants of the virus and adapt accordingly. It was laboratory technicians in South Africa who identified and drew attention to the notorious Omicron variant.

Recognising the imperative to be even better prepared for the next pandemic, we have continued to build on this previous success. The EIB is providing Gavi with EUR 1 billion in liquidity to accelerate access to vaccines against viruses with pandemic potential (such as Ebola) and to support routine vaccination against preventable diseases such as measles, malaria and the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a leading cause of cervical cancer. (A new vaccine against tuberculosis may also be on the horizon).