A Call for Engaged Philanthropy

  • The number of novel infectious diseases emerging internationally has increased sharply over the last 40 years. The risk of global pandemics is likewise increasing, as these emerging diseases interact with an increasingly globalized world.

  • COVID-19 shows how unprepared global institutions are to prevent pandemics. Unfortunately, as devastating as COVID-19 has been, the next pandemic may be worse.

  • The world needs a more coherent global system, focused on the long term and with the financial and institutional resources to prevent the next pandemic.

The Proposal

Philanthropy can, if we choose to, help address this. We believe that a large enough commitment from the global philanthropic community, if delivered with the appropriate conditions and coordination, can help to spur the formation of better systems at the global level.

We are asking for philanthropists and foundations to consider the risk of global pandemics as a priority for global funding.  If you find yourself agreeing with this need, then we would invite you to a discussion about where shared goals or interests may overlap.  

We plan to host a series of discussions, joining philanthropists interested in pandemic prevention to each other and to experts in pandemic prevention to identify where our shared points of interest are and encourage new, effective funding of long-term systems for pandemic prevention.

For more information, or to state your interest in the discussion, please contact Dr. Conor Seyle at dcseyle@paxsapiens.org.