To guard against another pandemic, we need decisive action from both civil society and the private sector

Individual efforts can be accelerated by forming the right collaborations that bring sector-spanning capabilities together, from computer engineers and data scientists to epidemiologists and physicians, writes Sally Davies and Vilas Dhar

Saturday 26 June 2021 11:03 BST
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<p>‘The challenges of responding to pandemics are complex and require global coordination’</p>

‘The challenges of responding to pandemics are complex and require global coordination’

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to devastate community after community, many global leaders are still unpacking why we were so unprepared. The challenges of responding to pandemics (or any similarly-scaled crisis) are complex and require global coordination, especially through representative bodies such as the UN, WHO or G7 that can summon collective will and build lasting improvements.

With the recent G7 summit, we saw progress with joint commitments on antimicrobial resistance, boosting global vaccine supply and global taxes; nevertheless, these commitments will take years or decades to bear fruit.

Recognising the need for fast and responsive multi-sector engagement and action, a coalition of civil society and private sector actors came together in The Trinity Challenge, with founding members including companies (Optum, GSK, Facebook, Tencent, Google, Legal and General, Reckitt, BD), non-profits (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation), and academia (Northeastern University, Hong Kong University, University of Cambridge) and many others.

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