Pandemic Compensation Initiative

PAX sapiens is launching a program to collaboratively design a compensation mechanism to address the perverse disincentives that apply to those countries that fight emerging epidemics resolutely. The program will offset the individualized economic harms that come from swift disease reporting. Because this reporting contributes to the common good of better pandemic prevention, a compensation mechanism providing economic security to these countries is in the world’s interest.

The first stage of the Pandemic Compensation Initiative will be to convene a diverse panel of experts to design the parameters of a compensation mechanism. This expert panel will be drawn from different economic and geographic sectors with a variety of expertise, and will be informed by extensive stakeholder consultation.

Crucial topics to be addressed through the panel’s deliberative process, over the next 18 to 24 months, include the scope of the compensation mechanism, the kinds of damages that will be eligible for compensation, which entities are compensable, and which entity is best suited to administer a compensation program. Since the answers to these questions have cost implications, the draft proposals of the expert panel will be analyzed by an economic team to provide budgetary estimates, which can be taken into account in finalizing the design of the compensation mechanism.

Paying a Terrible Price for Protecting Global Health

In November 2021, Botswana and South Africa reported the presence of the new omicron SARS CoV-2 variant to the WHO and the world, significantly aiding the global fight against COVID-19. As a result of this important action, many countries imposed an immediate flight ban to southern Africa, which devastated trade and tourism across the region. This episode recapitulated numerous previous examples of the same principle: that “when developing countries report outbreaks, they often derive few benefits and suffer disproportionately heavy social and economic consequences.” Studies of multiple epidemics have shown that well-founded concerns about these economic consequences can delay reporting in the early days of an epidemic, when lost time can be crucial.

The terrible paradox is that countries that serve the global good of rapid and transparent disease reporting often pay the most significant penalties for acting in the common good. In other circumstances in which one person or entity suffers a particularized loss to promote a general good, governments and other bodies have set up compensation mechanisms to offset individual harms incurred for a common benefit.

Advisory Committee

Robert Agyarko

Lead Advisor Outbreak and Epidemic, African Risk Capacity

Robert Agyarko leads the Outbreaks and Epidemics Programme of the African Risk Capacity and has more than 20 years of experience in development and public health. Previously, he was the lead for Strategic Planning, Resource Mobilization and Partnerships with the WHO Regional Office for Africa (2016) and Technical Advisor and Coordinator of the Ghana Emergency Operations Centre (2015–2016). He was a coordinator for West and Central Africa with the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance (2010–2012), the West and Central Africa Malaria Advisor for Unicef (2009–2010), the Global Fund Portfolio Manager for South Africa and Namibia (2007–20090 and Regional Malaria Technical Support Team Coordinator for WHO Regional Office for Africa (2003–2007). He began his career as a technical officer and later coordinator at the Centre for the Development of People, Ghana (1993–1998) before joining WHO headquarters to work on the impact of HIV and AIDS on older persons (1999–2003), then. Mr. Agyarko holds a Master of Development degree from the University of Sussex.

Montserrat Arroyo Kuribreña

Deputy Director General for International Science and Standards, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)

Dr. Montserrat Arroyo Kuribreña is WOAH’s Deputy Director General for International Science and Standards. She holds a veterinary and animal sciences degree from the Mexican National Autonomous University and a Master’s in Preventive Veterinary Medicine from the University of California, Davis. She initiated her career in the Mexican Veterinary Services, focusing mainly on the prevention and control of foreign animal diseases as well as trade-related issues, zoonotic disease prevention and diagnostic and vaccine production. In 2015 she served within WOAH as Subregional Representative for Central America and the Caribbean. Dr. Arroyo joined WOAH Headquarters in 2018, firstly serving as the Head of the World Animal Health Information Department and later as the Head of the Regional Activities Department, coordinating all 13 WOAH regional offices. Throughout her career, Dr. Arroyo has accumulated vast experience in global animal health affairs through her various positions within the Veterinary Services in Mexico, working in foreign animal disease prevention and control, laboratory management and import and export (2004−2013), in addition to serving as Director General for the National Veterinary Biologics Laboratory (PRONABIVE).

David Blazes

Deputy Director, Vaccine Development & Surveillance – Modelling and Pathogen Genomic Sequencing, Gates Foundation

Dr. Blazes joined the Gates Foundation after serving as a physician epidemiologist in the Navy. Throughout his twenty-one year career with the Navy, he served as Director of Infectious Diseases Research at Bethesda Naval Hospital, a Department Head on the USNS COMFORT, and Director of the Emerging Infections Department at the Naval Medical Research Unit Six in Peru. Upon his return to Washington, DC, he directed the Department of Defense’s global disease surveillance efforts and served as the chief advisor to the Navy Surgeon General on Infectious Diseases. At the foundation, Dr. Blazes manages a portfolio of grants around burden of disease modeling, geospatial mapping, and next generation genetic sequencing of pathogens with epidemic potential. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Blazes is currently serving as a member on the Board for Health Sciences Policy within the Health and Medicine Division at the National Academies.

Mukesh Chawla

Formerly Adviser for Health, Nutrition and Population & Coordinator of the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility , World Bank Group

Dr. Mukesh Chawla served as an Adviser for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group and the Coordinator of the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility. Dr. Chawla has worked for over twenty years with governments and international development partners in Europe, Asia and Africa on a variety of health sector issues, including insurance solutions for global public goods, design and diffusion of complex innovations in health, identification of innovative business solutions to address systemic and process issues in the health sector, and economics of health. His current area of interest and responsibility is helping countries get better prepared to respond immediately and effectively to disease outbreaks that have the potential of assuming pandemic proportions. He has written extensively on the role of markets and market-like institutions in the creation of incentives that strengthen health systems, fiscal space for health, innovations in health financing, design of health sector reforms and economics of aging populations. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he held a research faculty position at Harvard University. Before that, as member of the Indian Administrative Service in India, he held several key government positions between the years 1980 and 1998. Chawla attended St. Stephen’s College and Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India, and Boston University, Boston, USA.

Roojin Habibi

Assistant Professor , University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

Roojin Habibi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), a Senior Visiting Fellow of the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health, and a Research Fellow of the Global Strategy Lab based at York University and the University of Ottawa. Bridging the fields of international law, health law and human rights, her current research program examines normative interpretation and change in global health law. Her mixed methods and collaborative approach to research has led to the convening of several international conferences as well as publications across a range of venues. Professor Habibi’s research has a track record of global impact. Professor Habibi’s research and teaching portfolio has earned her several distinctions. She is a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar, a recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Award, and was elected by Lincoln Alexander School of Law’s Class of 2025 for the Contract Faculty Teaching Award. Professor Habibi currently teaches in the areas of public and constitutional law, and public and global health law. She holds a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Ottawa's French Common Law program, a specialization in transnational law from the University of Geneva Faculty of Law, and a Master’s of Science in Global Health from McMaster University. She is a Barrister and Solicitor in Good Standing with the Law Society of Ontario and is fluent in English, French, and Farsi.

Katharina Hauck

Professor in Health Economics, Deputy Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London

Dr. Hauck is specialized in the economics of infectious diseases and the economic evaluation of complex public health interventions. Her research focuses on the economic impact of pandemic and epidemic infectious diseases, the economics of pandemic preparedness, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health system strengthening. Katharina leads the 'Jameel Institute-Kenneth C. Griffin Initiative for the Economics of Pandemic Preparedness', an international collaborative program of research that has the mission to determine the societal and economic value of pandemic preparedness with integrated economic-epidemiological modelling. Katharina regularly advises on national and international health policy related to the economics of infectious diseases and the economics of pandemic preparedness. Katharina holds a PhD in Economics from the University of York (2005). Her previous appointments were at the Business School of Imperial College London (2010-2015), the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics, Monash University (Australia, 2005-2010), the Centre for Health Economics, University of York (UK, 1999-2005), and the World Health Organization in Geneva (Switzerland, 1998-1999).

Tom Inglesby

Director, Center for Health Security Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering , Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Inglesby is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Center is dedicated to protecting people’s health from the consequences of epidemics and disasters. Dr. Inglesby's work is internationally recognized in the fields of public health preparedness, pandemic and emerging infectious disease, and prevention of and response to biological threats. He was Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Center for Preparedness and Response at the CDC. He currently serves as Chair of the Health-Security Interface Technical Advisory Group (HSI-TAG) that provides independent advice to the World Health Organization on related topics. Dr. Inglesby has served as an advisor to the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, and Homeland Security, and he has testified before Congress on many occasions. In 2023, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Inglesby is often published and interviewed by the media. His interviews include 60 Minutes, Fox News Sunday, Meet the Press, CBS Evening News, and CNN, and his commentary and articles on the pandemic have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, JAMA, and other outlets. Dr. Inglesby completed his internal medicine and infectious diseases training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also served as Assistant Chief of Service in 1996–1997. He received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his BA from Georgetown University.

Christopher J. L. Murray

Professor and Chair of Health Metrics Sciences Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation , University of Washington

Christopher J.L. Murray, MD, DPhil, is Professor and Chair of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington and Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). His career has focused on improving population health worldwide through better evidence. A physician and health economist, his work has led to the development of a range of new methods and empirical studies to strengthen health measurement, analyze the performance of health care systems, understand the drivers of health, and produce forecasts of the future state of health. He has led critical analyses during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand its impact on health systems and the population as a whole, and the effectiveness of policy interventions to mitigate it. Dr. Murray is the founding Director of IHME, an independent research institution at the University of Washington that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world’s most important health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them through the application of innovative scientific methods. The resultant policy-relevant evidence base informs decision-makers from local to global levels about the current state and future direction of population health and the resources and successful policies needed to improve it. He has authored more than 500 journal articles and authored or edited 16 books. Dr. Murray holds Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees from Harvard University, a DPhil in International Health Economics from Oxford University, and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the 2018 co-recipient of the John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award.

Andrea Stürmer

Formerly Chief Executive Officer Zurich Insurance, Austria

Andrea Stürmer is a seasoned executive with 27 years of international experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, she was CEO of Zurich Insurance in Austria for 7 years, leading the company through a customer-focused transformation, earning multiple industry accolades. Andrea Stürmer joined Zurich in 2007 and served as Chief Operating Officer for Business Insurance at the subsidiary Farmers Insurance Group and as the Strategic Assistant to the Zurich Group's Chief Executive Officer. She previously held various positions as finance as well as mergers and acquisitions professional at Zurich Insurance Group, Allianz and JPMorgan. Andrea Stürmer is an active board member and a sought-after public speaker on topics such as innovation, sustainability and leadership. She holds a Master's degree from the London School of Economics as well as the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2012 she was honored as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Forum of Young Global Leaders.

Xu Ming

Dean of the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health & Associate Dean of the Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University

Dr. Xu Ming is the Chair of the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, and Associate Dean of PKU-iGHD, Peking University. Dr. Xu has rich diplomatic and international working experience. He was the Head of the Department for Emerging Economies and previously the Senior Political Advisor for External Relations in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria based in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products under the Ministry of Commerce of China. Earlier, he served in the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission and the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Korea. When working with the Global Fund, his focus was mainly on the prevention and control of major infectious diseases and health system strengthening in the implementing countries, and building up collaborations with emerging economies in the health field. When working in China, he participated in formulating the policies and regulations of China’s healthcare industry, ranging from the promotion of trade and investment, regulation of medicinal products, to the enhancement of the international competitiveness of companies. He was the chair and PI of key health projects, and the head or member of evaluation groups to review major health projects at the national level. He received a Ph.D. in industrial economics from Fudan University and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Guanghua School of Management of Peking University. He has written more than one hundred papers and articles in journals and specialized publications.

David Bowen

Senior Fellow, Pandemic Compensation Initiative, PAX sapiens

Dr. David Bowen is the lead for the Pandemic Compensation Initiative (PCI), an innovative initiative focused on protecting global health by addressing the economic disincentives that prevent timely epidemic reporting and response. PCI is designing a novel multilateral financial mechanism to help low- and middle-income countries overcome the significant economic risks associated with transparently responding to emerging infectious threats. The initiative seeks to ensure that countries on the frontlines of potential pandemics are supported rather than penalized for acting swiftly and responsibly. Dr. Bowen's career in public health and policy spans both government and philanthropy. He served as senior staff on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he played a lead role in shaping landmark legislation, including the Affordable Care Act. He was also instrumental in the development of federal policy on pandemic preparedness, drug safety, genetic nondiscrimination, biosimilars, and health information technology. Following his time in government, Dr. Bowen joined the Gates Foundation, where he led partnerships with national governments to accelerate progress toward global polio eradication. He has also held senior leadership positions at prominent consulting firms, where he advised on complex public health and development challenges. Dr. Bowen holds a deep commitment to global health security and continues to contribute his expertise to initiatives that aim to build more resilient and equitable health systems worldwide.