The key to global public health

The COVID-19 crisis taught the world fundamental lessons about the importance of global cooperation to fight disease.

- Nadia Calviño is President of the EIB. Sania Nishtar is CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

But that cooperation is under strain, as are the conditions needed to sustain it. Future funding for health and science is being called into question, and cuts to development assistance by some traditional donors are casting doubt on our ability to prevent and respond to infectious diseases in the world’s most fragile countries.

To ensure future resilience to pandemics, these gaps must be filled. The key to success lies in strong, innovative new partnerships between multinational organisations, privateand public-sector institutions, and civil society. We already know from recent experience 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.