27 A Global Framework for Research Preparedness and Response

Abstract

AbstractThe world has faced many infectious disease emergencies during this century and is certain to see more in the decades ahead. Urgent research to study new pathogens and how to control and counter them is now increasingly being integrated into global response to infectious diseases to chronicle their clinical presentation, identify treatment alternatives, and develop approaches to prevention or control—and to do so with the urgency befitting a pandemic with many lives at stake. The recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have spurred more coordination on response among global stakeholders. However, they also revealed many shortcomings and spurred movement toward a global framework providing more consistent resources, coordination, and governance. A well thought-out, realistic framework is needed not only for more effective scientific research including clinical trials, but to better account for popular perceptions of and reactions to events, and to ensure that the products of emergency research are equitably distributed among the world’s population. The key elements of the research ecosystem must be in place before a new infectious disease appears.