The Pandemic Fund

Background

The Eastern Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines received US$24.4 million from the Pandemic Fund to bolster regional public health security. The grant has mobilized an additional US$22 million in co-investment and US$7.8 million in co-financing. The three Implementing Entities (IEs) for this project are: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank.

These small island states are popular tourist hotspots. Unfortunately, their location along the Caribbean hurricane belt puts them at heightened risk of natural disasters, and the frequent coming and going of travelers exacerbates the spread of communicable diseases. In all six countries, budgets, infrastructure, and human capacity are insufficient to manage the fallout of large-scale disasters and health emergencies. 

Diverse, multisectoral collaboration is a core tenet of the Pandemic Fund. In that spirit, the Eastern Caribbean project is led by the countries’ Ministries of Health, alongside Ministries of Agriculture, the IEs, and additional partners including the Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists, the Caribbean Med Lab, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the Regional Coordinating Mechanism, Ross University Medical School, and the School of Veterinary Sciences at St. George’s University. 
 

Project objectives

With the Pandemic Fund grant, the six countries aim to reduce disease, deaths, and socioeconomic disruptions associated with public health emergencies by implementing a collaborative, One Health approach. 
 

Implementation arrangements and key components

The project’s four main areas of work encompass the Pandemic Fund’s priorities: surveillance, laboratory systems, and workforce development. Descriptions of each area follow. 

1. Establishing baselines using globally recognized assessments. These assessments, spanning the human and animal health sectors, will guide activities in all other areas.
2. Improving multisectoral surveillance and response for zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and other emerging threats. Activities in this area include developing multisectoral preparedness and response plans, strengthening regional surveillance networks to support national efforts, and generating and analyzing reliable, comparable data for surveillance, disease control, and response. They also include establishing protocols to lead the work of multisectoral technical groups during health emergencies and increasing the efficiency of rapid response efforts.
3. Strengthening regional diagnostic capacity. This work involves supplying critical consumables, materials, and testing machinery, generating maintenance plans for both human and animal health laboratories, and expanding the External Quality Assurance Program. It also involves integrating Laboratory Information Systems with other health information systems, enabling access to regional laboratories where national capacity is limited (particularly for animal health), and continuing to build regional diagnostic networks.
4. Developing human resource capacity. Activities in this area focus on training ministry staff on infection prevention and control, diagnostic testing, sample collection and packaging, epidemiology, outbreak investigation, and laboratory management. They also focus on establishing an AMR stewardship program and strengthening health information systems to support workforce forecasting and planning, with a focus on ensuring opportunity for all workers, regardless of age, sex, race, or other factors. 

FAO oversees activities and ensures partner alignment across agriculture, animal health, and AMR. PAHO leads on human health, working closely with the relevant Ministries of Health, as well as other partners. The World Bank helps implement the project, align it with the region’s broader development goals, and connect it to global networks for learning and capacity-building.
 

Expected outcomes

With the collaboration of the Pandemic Fund and project partners, the Eastern Caribbean nations expect to:

• Enable early detection and containment of potential pandemics
• Reduce the transmission of infectious diseases, and
• Improve public health preparedness across the region.