This is how to prepare for next pandemic, WHO tells countries

Two major institutions have asked researchers and governments to prepare for the next pandemic.

The World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) called for research into pathogens that can infect humans–regardless of their perceived pandemic risk–as well as focusing on individual pathogens.

The approach proposes using prototype pathogens as guides or pathfinders to develop the knowledge base for entire pathogen families.

The call comes a year after the WHO declared Covid-19 over as a global emergency.

The Covid-19 killed about seven million people and experts say another pandemic is inevitable.

“History teaches us that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if. It also teaches us the importance of science and political resolve in blunting its impact,” said WHO director general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus in a statement.

“We need that same combination of science and political resolve to come together as we prepare for the next pandemic. Advancing our knowledge of the many pathogens that surround us is a global project requiring the participation of scientists from every country.”

At the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics issued a report urging a broad-based approach by researchers and countries.

This approach aims to create applicable knowledge, tools and countermeasures that can be rapidly adapted to emerging threats.

This strategy will also speed up surveillance and research to understand how pathogens transmit and infect humans and how the immune system responds.

The report’s authors likened its updated recommendation to imagining scientists as individuals searching for lost keys on a street (the next pandemic pathogen).

The area illuminated by the streetlight represents well-studied pathogens with known pandemic potential.

The dark spaces in this metaphor include many regions of the world, particularly resource-scarce settings with high biodiversity, which are still under-monitored and understudied.

These places might harbour novel pathogens, but lack the infrastructure and resources to conduct comprehensive research.

“WHO’s scientific framework for epidemic and pandemic research preparedness is a vital shift in how the world approaches countermeasure development and one that is strongly supported by CEPI,” said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEPI chief executive officer.

“As presented at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this framework will help steer and coordinate research into entire pathogen families, a strategy that aims to bolster the world’s ability to swiftly respond to unforeseen variants, emerging pathogens, zoonotic spillover and unknown threats referred to as pathogen X.”

The prioritisation work underpinning the report involved more than 200 scientists from more than 50 countries, who evaluated the science and evidence on 28 virus families and one core group of bacteria, encompassing 1,652 pathogens.

The epidemic and pandemic risk was determined by considering available information on transmission patterns, virulence  and availability of diagnostic tests, vaccines and treatments.

CEPI and WHO also called for globally coordinated, collaborative research to prepare for potential pandemics.

To facilitate this, WHO is engaging research institutions across the world to establish a Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORC) for each pathogen family, with a WHO Collaborating Centre acting as the research hub for each family.

These CORCs around the world will involve researchers, developers, funders, regulators, trial experts and others, with the aim to promote greater research collaboration and equitable participation, particularly from places where the pathogens are known to or highly likely to circulate.