The Pandemic Fund

Background

Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe received US$36 million from the Pandemic Fund to boost regional health security and fend off climate-related threats. The grant catalyzed an additional US$32 million in co-investment and US$12.3 million in co-financing.

The Southern African countries are among the world’s most impacted by natural disasters, a reality that puts decades of public health improvements in jeopardy. Rapid warming and changing rainfall patterns intensify extreme weather events like droughts and floods, leaving the area’s people vulnerable to vector and water-borne diseases. The displacement of people and families from their homes and the movement of populations from one country to another exacerbate the risk of disease spread, while economic fragility, conflict, poverty, and food insecurity complicate prevention and response efforts in many of the project’s countries.

The Pandemic Fund is based on the principle of multisectoral collaboration. In that spirit, the Southern Africa project is a joint effort among Botswana’s Ministry of Health and Public Health Insitute, Lesotho’s Ministry of Health, Malawi’s Ministry of Health, Mozambique’s Ministry of Health, Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, South Africa’s National Department of Health, and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care and Ministry of Gender. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the project’s Implementing Entity (IE). 

Additional partners include the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Botswana Community Based Organizations Network, the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organizations, the Botswana Network of AIDS Service Organizations, the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS, the Christian Health Association of Lesotho, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the Eternal Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Global Fund, the International Organization for Migration, JF Kapnek Zimbabwe, the Lesotho Red Cross, the National University of Lesotho, Riders 4 Health, Right to Care, and World Vision, as well as local-level leadership. 
 

Project objectives

With the Pandemic Fund grant, the eight countries and their partners aim to strengthen regional health security via an advanced emergency preparedness and response (EPR) system that incorporates climate. 
 

Implementation arrangements and key components

The project’s four areas of work emphasize the Pandemic Fund’s priorities – surveillance, laboratory systems, and workforce development – as well as effective governance and collaboration. Activities comprising each component follow. 

1. Improving the detection of climate-related threats. This component of the project focuses on engaging the WHO Center of Excellence for One Health as a Climate Health Observatory, as well as linking various surveillance centers to analyze human, animal, and environmental data. It also includes upgrading information management systems with meteorological and hydrological disaster warning data to share critical information among countries and partners swiftly.
2. Strengthening laboratory capacity. Activities in this area include developing environmental surveillance capacity, drawing on the laboratory network and subregional expertise, as well as evaluating subregional laboratories for their possible integration into the Network.
3. Increasing public health, emergency, and surge workforce capacity. This body of work focuses on analyzing the capacity of the surge workforce and developing a plan for improvement, as well as integrating animal and environmental surveillance and laboratory experts, aligning surge workers and plans with international standards, and maintaining a database of skilled emergency health workers. It also includes strengthening cross-border surveillance through joint Field Epidemiology Training Programs at the countries’ points of entry, updating AVoHC SURGE manuals with information about climate-related and zoonotic outbreaks and equity considerations, as well as hosting networking and training opportunities.
4. Reinforcing EPR governance and collaboration. This component of the project involves strengthening subregional Public Health Emergency Operating Center networks across the eight countries. It also involves formalizing and funding EPR leaders, establishing a multidisciplinary Health Emergency Leaders Network, training and mentoring EPR leaders in Public Health Emergency Management, and facilitating communication among those leaders through convenings and standard operating procedures.
    

Expected outcomes

With the Pandemic Fund grant and their diverse set of project partners, the eight Southern African countries expect to:

1. Improve their ability to detect climate-related threats, including antimicrobial resistance, across the human, animal, and environmental health sectors
2. Strengthen laboratory capacity for environmental surveillance and research
3. Increase public health, emergency, and surge workforce capacity, and
4. Reinforce EPR governance and collaboration.