It has been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began and more than six million people have died from the disease. While more than 60% of those in rich countries can now access a vaccine, poor countries have received only 1% of the doses distributed. Moreover, with climate change and unaddressed global health problems humanity faces the threat of even more devastating pandemics in the future. How can the international community support the development, procurement and supply of medical countermeasures and tools to shorten the response time to a pandemic and deliver equitable global access?

More effective pandemic preparation and response will require new financing for counter-measure innovation and ensuring equitable access to the fruits of scientific progress. Recent discussions of innovative financing have often focused narrowly on funding counter-measures with some attention given to disease surveillance and country preparedness plans to promote health security. But should adequate funding for pandemic preparation and response focus only on the development and supply of counter-measures, including those better adapted for use in resource-poor settings? Or should it also include financing to build good health systems that can deliver counter-measures? Financing health security in this broader sense might require ensuring sufficient resources for adequate pandemic preparation, early detection, and a robust, equitable response that guarantees priority health technologies and quality health services for all.

This roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr Caesar Atuire, will start with short presentations from the panellists, followed by a Q&A session.

The event is co-hosted with the Global Health Impact Project the Center for Global Development and the Independent Research Group for Global Health Justice.