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WHO - CEPI and WHO Urge Broader Research Strategy
webRelevant as an institutional analogy for AI safety: the 'prototype pathogen' strategy parallels arguments for capability-family-level AI risk assessment rather than purely case-by-case evaluation of known threats.
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Importance: 28/100press releasenews
Summary
CEPI and WHO jointly called for an expanded global research strategy that focuses on entire pathogen families—not just known pandemic threats—using prototype pathogens as guides to build broadly applicable knowledge and countermeasures. The strategy, presented at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024, aims to accelerate surveillance and response capabilities for emerging and unknown threats including 'pathogen X'. The prioritization framework involved over 200 scientists evaluating 1,652 pathogens across 28 virus families.
Key Points
- •WHO and CEPI advocate researching entire pathogen families rather than only individually identified high-risk pathogens, using prototype pathogens as exploratory guides.
- •The framework aims to develop broadly applicable tools and countermeasures adaptable to novel or unforeseen emerging threats, including unknown 'pathogen X'.
- •Over 200 scientists from 50+ countries evaluated 1,652 pathogens across 28 virus families and one bacterial group to underpin the prioritization report.
- •Resource-scarce, biodiverse regions remain understudied 'dark spaces' where novel pathogens may emerge but lack research infrastructure.
- •The strategy targets faster surveillance and deeper understanding of pathogen transmission, human infection mechanisms, and immune responses.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations | Organization | 53.0 |
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WHO / NOOR / Olga Kravets
University Hospital Lyon laboratories: sequencing and respiratory viruses. Lyon, France, 9 March 2022.
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# CEPI and WHO urge broader research strategy for countries to prepare for the next pandemic
1 August 2024
Joint News Release
Geneva
Reading time:
2 min(568 words)
[العربية](https://www.who.int/ar/news/item/26-01-1446-cepi-and-who-urge-broader-research-strategy-for-countries-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic)
[中文](https://www.who.int/zh/news/item/01-08-2024-cepi-and-who-urge-broader-research-strategy-for-countries-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic)
[Français](https://www.who.int/fr/news/item/01-08-2024-cepi-and-who-urge-broader-research-strategy-for-countries-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic)
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[Español](https://www.who.int/es/news/item/01-08-2024-cepi-and-who-urge-broader-research-strategy-for-countries-to-prepare-for-the-next-pandemic)
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) today called on researchers and governments to strengthen and accelerate global research to prepare for the next pandemic.
They emphasized the importance of expanding research to encompass entire families of pathogens that can infect humans–regardless of their perceived pandemic risk–as well as focusing on individual pathogens. The approach proposes using prototype pathogens as guides or pathfinders to develop the knowledge base for entire pathogen families.
At the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics issued a [report](https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/pathogens-prioritization-a-scientific-framework-for-epidemic-and-pandemic-research-preparedness) urging a broader-based approach by researchers and countries. This approach aims to create broadly applicable knowledge, tools and countermeasures that can be rapidly adapted to emerging threats. This strategy also aims to speed up surveillance and research to understand how pathogens transmit and infect humans and how the immune system responds to them.
The report’s authors likened its updated recommendation to imagining scientists as individuals searching for lost keys on a street (the next pandemic pathogen). The area illuminated by the streetlight represents well-studied pathogens with known pandemic potential. By researching prototype pathogens, we can expand the lighted area, gaining knowledge and understanding of pathogen families that might currently be in the dark. The dark spaces in this metaphor include many regions of the world, particularly resource-scarce settings with high biodiversity, which are still under monitored and understudi
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