Pandemic Preparedness at the World Health Summit

The European Commission hosts session on pandemic preparedness at the World Health Summit. 

At the final day of the World Health Summit in Berlin, the European Commission hosted a session on ‘Research and Innovation on Pandemic Preparedness in the EU and Global Context’. The panel discussion was chaired by Kasia Jurczak, director General of research and Innovation as well as Head of Unit of Combatting Diseases at the European Commission. The speakers of the panel were Professor Dr Christian Drosten, Director of the Institute of Virology at Charité Universitätsmedizin in Berlin, Dr Michael Makanga, Executive Director of Global Health at EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking in Belgium, Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo Co-Lead R&D Blueprint for Epidemics at the Health Emergencies Programme World Health Organization, Hervé Raoul French Deputy Director Research on AIDS – Emerging Infectious Diseases at National Agency in France and Shingai Machingaidze, Co-Chair International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat in South Africa.

Panelists discussed how the Covid 19 pandemic set the stage for a broader discussion and led to the launch of more concentrated efforts and initiatives on preparedness for pandemics in the global health community. Each speaker shared what their organisation – and its respective broader region – has done since the global pandemic to better prepare itself for pandemics and outbreaks in the future.

Shingai Machingaidze shared details of the ‘100 Day Mission,’ an inititative by the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat. “It’s enabled by strengthening global surveillance, improvements to clinical trials and regulatory processes, regionalised DTV manufacturing, sustainable financing and procurement, and rigorous health governance.” 

Hervé Raoul discussed the coordinated efforts and partnerships funded by the European Commission for pandemic preparedness between The French National Research Agency for HIV, viral hepatitis and emerging infectious diseases and the German Center of Infection Research. “The first priority, of course, will be to maintain at the right level the strategic research and innovation agenda because the context can evolve years after years, so it is something very important.”

“Of course, the heart of the partnerships will be to form joint transnational goals and to organise them in order to support research that we need,” he added.

Professor Dr Christian Drosten acceded that the European level is the most important for them as well. “We have a European level. My institution is on the laboratory side of things, so our current biggest network is the Durable Consortium, organised under the HERA authority of the EU and then there are the big clinical study structures of the EU as well. For instance, now the name of the structure there is ECRAID. It has been a predecessor organisation. We are also trying to help out with clinical studies on the laboratory end and this is for us the European level,” he explained.

According to Dr Drosten, the national structure already existed in Germany well before the pandemic, which afforded a lot of pandemic preparedness nationally, is the German Center for Infection Research.

“One thing I accede to is that we have been focusing a lot on vaccinology and we need actually the diagnostics as the most tractable and most real and most useful output of the pathogens sciences in the field,” said Dr Drosten. “With this comes the idea of laboratory capacity and there is so much laboratory capacity building now with a focus on broad range surveillance, big sequencing programs. But one thing I would really like to pledge for is to do this with patient benefit in mind.”

“We have to be aware that especially during the pandemic, pandemic preparedness research became opportunistic science in parts and we have to move away from this. We can’t do opportunistic science because it’s not science,” he added.

The EU has worked on epidemic and pandemic preparedness research and innovation for many years and further boosted its efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooperation of European research funders of pandemic preparedness research and innovation is about to be raised to a new level through the BE READY European partnership.

Addtionally, the EU has been working with funding organisations from across the world to quickly mobilise and coordinate funding activities in the frame of Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R).