The Fund helps operationalize the "One Health" approach, from a theoretical concept to practical action at the country or regional level

“By connecting immediate outbreak responses to long-term capacity-building, the Pandemic Fund ensures investments yield both immediate benefits and lasting resilience against future health threats”.

What was the context behind the establishment of the Pandemic Fund?

The Pandemic Fund, established in November 2022 with support from the G20 and the broader international community, is the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to investing in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response in low- and middle-income countries. It was created in response to lessons from COVID-19, as well as past pandemics, which have highlighted the need for sustained investments to prevent future pandemics effectively.

The costs of preparedness are minimal compared to the devastating economic and human toll of uncontained outbreaks—COVID-19 alone caused trillions in GDP losses and millions of lives lost. The fund's rationale emphasizes that prevention is better than cure, as the saying “an ounce of Prevention Is worth a pound of cure.” Rapid detection and containment are critical to reducing risks and minimizing both lives lost and economic impact.

The values of the Pandemic Fund and PREZODE are closely aligned. How do you incorporate the One Health approach into your work?

Central to our work is the One Health approach, recognizing the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and the environment. This approach, embraced by PREZODE, along with the need to prevent zoonotic disease emergence, also underpins the Pandemic Fund's mission.

The Pandemic Fund projects integrate the One Health perspective across activities such as surveillance, laboratory upgrades, and workforce training. We are fostering a holistic and integrated response to pandemic threats worldwide through 47 projects across 75 countries. This includes ensuring countries have surge capacity—trained health workforces, scalable laboratories, and adaptable surveillance systems—to respond effectively to outbreaks. For example, veterinary and human labs are being upgraded and connected to ensure coordinated efforts. Workforce development extends beyond doctors and nurses to include veterinarians, animal health workers, and livestock farmers, equipping them to prevent, detect, and manage zoonotic outbreaks.

In Ethiopia, the Fund investments include building an electronic alert system, upgrading and connecting veterinary and human laboratory networks, and shoring up the health workforce and supply chains to provide surge capacity.

Two years after the Pandemic Fund’s launch, which main achievements would you underscore?

The Pandemic Fund's first two rounds of funding focus on enhancing national, regional, and global capacities in early warning systems, surveillance, laboratory networks, and workforce development. A key observation from the first two calls is the operationalization of the "One Health" approach, from a theoretical concept to practical action at the country or regional level. This involves uniting agencies and ministries across sectors—health, finance, environment, agriculture, and animal husbandry—into cohesive, all-of-government initiatives. Projects also foster community engagement, partnering with civil society to drive behavioral changes, such as reducing stigma around disease reporting or addressing vaccine hesitancy.

Similar projects emphasize multi-sectoral cooperation, engaging international agencies like FAO, WHO, UNICEF, and development banks to address gaps in veterinary and animal health expertise. In our Annual Report, you can read, for instance, about the training project “Prioritizing zoonotic diseases in field epidemiology ” in Bhutan or on programs that engage with communities such as the “Togo Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response Strengthening Project”, or “Understanding Gender Roles and Supporting Women in Yemen’s Livestock Sector and Beyond”

Another highlight is the multiplier effect of our grants. For every dollar we provide, an additional six dollars are leveraged from international partners and domestic governments. This is tracked through co-financing and co-investment commitments outlined in project proposals.

In the specific case of the 2024 Mpox outbreak, what did the Pandemic Fund implement to respond to the crisis and to reinforce prevention?

The Pandemic Fund focuses on investing during “peacetime” to strengthen capacities for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Recent outbreaks have underscored the importance of this work. When Mpox was declared a public health emergency in mid-2024, the Pandemic Fund acted swiftly. Leveraging projects submitted during its second funding call earlier in the year, the board fast-tracked $129 million to address gaps identified in the joint WHO-Africa CDC Mpox Continental Plan for Preparedness and Response.

This funding supports 10 affected countries through five projects. These initiatives focus on scaling up surveillance, diagnostics, and vaccine deployment while addressing immediate outbreak needs. Importantly, these efforts align with the fund’s broader goals of building sustainable, long-term capacity. For example, vaccinators trained for Mpox can respond to future vaccination needs, and upgraded laboratories enhance diagnostic capabilities for various diseases. It is crucial: we don't know what the next outbreak is going to be.

What are the main expectations of the Pandemic Fund for countries and organizations applying for financing in its third call for proposals?

The third call announcement was published on December 19, 2024. This call will be launched in two phases—the first phase will be open to single and multi-country proposals in March 2025; the second phase will open in June 2025 to Regional Entity proposals. Particular attention should be paid to four underlying themes—One Health, community and civil society engagement, and gender and health equity—as well as investments in strengthening two cross-cutting enablers—National Public Health Institutes (or other public institutions) and regional or global networks, organizations, or hubs.

As partners prepare proposals, they should prioritize collaboration, coordination, and multi-sectoral engagement while seeking additional funding sources to blend with Pandemic Fund grants. By connecting immediate outbreak responses to long-term capacity-building, the Pandemic Fund ensures investments yield both immediate benefits and lasting resilience against future health threats.

BIO

Priya Basu was appointed as the inaugural Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund at the World Bank in September 2022. During the pandemic, she led the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to address key bottlenecks in vaccine access and delivery, as well as the Bank’s engagement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response with the G20 and G7 - coordinating across finance and health. She also led the development of the Pandemic Fund, working with a large group of donors and development partners, the WHO, and other stakeholders, including international agencies, philanthropies, the private sector, and civil society, mobilizing political and financial support to establish the fund in record time with an initial seed capital of $2 billion. Read her full bio: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/people/p/priya-basu