Enhancing Public–Private Cooperation in Epidemic Preparedness and Response

• Date: 01 December 2018
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.281

Enhancing Public–Private Cooperation in Epidemic

Preparedness and Response

Rebecca Katz, Marian Wentworth, Jonathan Quick, Ashley Arabasadi,

Emily Harris, Katrina Geddes, and Ashish Jha

The threat of epidemics and pandemics has increased as our world has become more interconnected.

Recent epidemics have highlighted the need for increased investment in preparedness and the critical

role of the private sector in health system strengthening and preparedness. Our manuscript seeks to

bring attention to and promote public–private collaboration in global health preparedness by

discussing areas on which public and private organizations can focus their efforts to improve

partnerships. It does this by expanding on themes discussed at a conference on public–private

partnerships in pandemic preparedness, Ready Together. We hope that this article will encourage

effective partnerships.

KEY WORDS: epidemic, preparedness, partnerships

Background

Our interconnected world has witnessed an increase in infectious disease

outbreaks with epidemic or pandemic potential, including the current spread of Ebola

and MERS-CoV. Yet despite clear evidence that prevention is more cost effective than

response, we remain trapped in a cycle of panic and neglect, throwing money at

disease events whenever they occur, but failing to sustain investment in preparedness

when the panic subsides (World Bank, 2017). We are now in a period of neglect, as

world leaders turn their attention to other urgent issues, and investment in vulnerable

health systems languishes (Yamey et al., 2017). The private sector, the sector that is

nongovernmental and is run for prof‌it, has a critical role to play in response to an

epidemic, but the community also needs to play a role in health system strengthening

and preparedness. In fact, we argue that sound stewardship and risk management

demands that the private sector play a role in mitigating the very real health and

economic risks associated with unpredictable, but completely expectable outbreaks.

Further, the expertise, capabilities, and resources of private sector organizations offer

signif‌icant opportunities for raising awareness, building community resilience,

strengthening disease surveillance, and capitalizing on medical innovations

World Medical & Health Policy, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2018

420

doi: 10.1002/wmh3.281

#2018 Policy Studies Organization