The Pandemic Fund

Background

In 2024, a new strain of mpox was detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo and began spreading swiftly across international borders, including to Rwanda. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, highlighting the growing threat posed by the outbreak. The Pandemic Fund acted quickly and fast-tracked US$128.9 million to 10 countries affected by the disease, including a US$24.9 million grant for Rwanda. This rapid response aimed to enhance national and regional capacities in disease surveillance, diagnostics, and health workforce development. It also aligned with the priorities identified in the WHO-Africa CDC Joint Mpox Continental Preparedness and Response Plan. The Pandemic Fund grant catalyzed an additional US$154 million in co-investment and US$5.8 million in co-financing. The project’s Implementing Entities (IEs) are the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, and the WHO. 

Rwanda’s economy has flourished over the last three decades, but its public health system remains vulnerable. The country is a refuge for people fleeing conflict and instability in the region, heightening the risk of diseases like mpox crossing borders. Most Rwandans live in rural areas with limited access to primary health care. A large portion of the population also depends on agriculture and livestock for their livelihood, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases. Meanwhile, the country’s vulnerability to climate-related disasters—such as droughts and floods—further amplifies the threat of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, including Rift Valley fever, dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya. The Pandemic Fund grant will help Rwanda mitigate long-term public health risks within this complex landscape while addressing ongoing outbreaks. 

The Pandemic Fund brings together diverse partners to promote a multisectoral approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR). This approach is reflected in Rwanda’s project. Leading the effort is the Ministry of Health, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Finance, and the project’s IEs. Additional partners include the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the European Investment Bank, HISP Rwanda, the Rwanda Agricultural Board, the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, the Rwanda Development Board, the University of Rwanda, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, and private hospitals.
 

Project objectives

With support from the Pandemic Fund grant, Rwanda aims to mitigate the near-term threat of mpox and Marburg virus while also building longer term resilience against future pandemics. The project recognizes that public health emergencies affect different groups of people differently. It aims to engage girls and women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other marginalized or vulnerable communities through representative decision-making, partnerships with local communities, tailored risk communication strategies, and targeted trainings. 
 

Implementation arrangements and key components

In line with the Pandemic Fund’s priorities, Rwanda’s project will focus on surveillance, laboratory systems, and workforce development. Activities within each area include:

1. Enhancing surveillance and early warning systems. Activities in this area focus on scaling up indicator and event-based surveillance across the human and animal health sectors, boosting antimicrobial resistance surveillance, and enhancing surveillance through innovative technologies and complementary methods. They also focus on upgrading and integrating electronic surveillance systems and building the capacity of the surveillance workforce, ensuring the inclusion of women. Activities related to the mpox and Marburg outbreaks include enabling real-time reporting at the primary health care level, providing supervision and mentorship to health facilities, developing mathematical models to guide responses to high-risk diseases, piloting an open-source AI platform for detecting mpox and Marburg virus as a proof of concept, and improving One Health operations, coordination, and review.
2. Strengthening laboratory systems. This component of the project focuses on constructing and upgrading biosafety-level laboratories for both human and animal health. It includes procuring the necessary equipment and reagents, instituting a Quality Management System, and supporting the laboratory accreditation process. Strengthening the sample management and transportation system is also a priority, particularly for mpox samples, along with building laboratory workforce capacity. As part of the mpox response, Rwanda also intends to develop a laboratory information system to increase data sharing and management.
3. Developing the public health and community workforce. Activities in this area focus on training surge workers to respond to public health emergencies effectively. Key activities include supporting competency-based programs such as the Field Epidemiology Training Program and the Global Laboratory Leadership Program and promoting the One Health approach through field-based, experiential learning. Rwanda plans to develop curricula for master's programs in wildlife health management and veterinary public health systems while also training community human and animal health workers. Event-based surveillance training for 60,000 community health workers is a key component of the mpox response.

The AIIB provides technical support to Rwanda in building and strengthening critical physical infrastructure, with a focus on sustainability. FAO contributes its expertise in animal health. UNICEF contributes its expertise in water, sanitation, and hygiene and focuses on community-level activities. The WHO draws on its longstanding collaboration with the Rwandan Ministry of Health and brings extensive experience in coordinating international responses to public health emergencies.   
 

Expected outcomes

Through its comprehensive set of planned activities, Rwanda aims to contain the mpox and Marburg outbreaks, strengthen its PPR capabilities, and contribute to global health security. The country expects to: 

• Enhance surveillance and early warning systems to rapidly detect and respond to health threats.
• Strengthen laboratory systems to support the timely, accurate diagnosis of diseases with epidemic potential.
• Develop a skilled health workforce, including the community human and animal health workers, who play a vital role in the mpox response.