Lancet commission calls for whole-of-society pandemic readiness in order to save lives

The National University of Singapore (NUS)–Lancet Pandemic Readiness through Institutions, Mobilising Communities, and Equity (PRIME) Commission redefines pandemic readiness and offers a practical blueprint for whole-of-society pandemic planning and implementation.

The Commission aims to transform pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery for the 21st century by identifying situations where protection breaks down, explaining why these failures recur, and setting out actionable recommendations.

PRIME's objectives are to move readiness from formal plans on paper to practice, make equity operational rather than aspirational, and ensure that success is judged by whether people, communities, and institutions can sustain equitable protection under stress.

The central gap addressed by this Commission is the divide between formal readiness and real protection. Many countries entered the COVID-19 pandemic with plans and formal capacities in place, yet this protection failed in certain contexts.

This Commission argues that the missing element has been a practical and profound whole-of-society approach that can connect communities, health systems, social protection, finance, law, education, labour, food systems, environmental governance, and regional and global cooperation.

Professor Francisca Mutapi from the School of Biological Sciences served as one of the  Commissioners and co-author on the NUS–Lancet PRIME Commission, contributing expertise on African health systems, infectious-disease resilience and community-centred pandemic preparedness.

This followed from her contributions to the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response consultations, informing its 2022 report "Transforming or Tinkering? Inaction lays the groundwork for another pandemic", including perspectives on African health-system resilience, preparedness, equitable access and context-appropriate pandemic responses. 

In addition to the Commission, Professor Mutapi together with Professor Mark Woolhouse (Usher Institute) published a comment in Nature Africa highlighting the importance of the Commission for African countries.

The PRIME Commission delivers a ten-point manifesto for pandemic readiness, suggesting that governments move beyond isolated health responses to establish permanent, cross-government leadership structures backed by transparent financing. 

At its core, the plan insists on rebuilding trust through proactive misinformation combat and real-time scientific adaptation, while ensuring recovery efforts are transformative and community-led rather than merely restorative. 

The Commission says we need to fix how the world handles health crises by stopping countries from working alone and instead helping regions make their own medicines and supplies. It argues that global rules should focus on fairness and letting local leaders make decisions, rather than creating a messy, broken system. To make this work, the plan suggests building stronger local clinics, updating emergency laws to protect people's rights, and ensuring financial help reaches families immediately. 

Looking ahead, the Commission is launching the PRIME Collective to support the implementation of these recommendations. This initiative will facilitate roundtables bringing together communities, practitioners, and governments to adapt the foundational blocks to specific contexts. The goal is to build a living implementation platform that allows for continuous learning and course correction. 

Through this work, researchers are helping to ensure that the next era of pandemic readiness is defined by feasible, equitable, and sustained protection for all, transforming systemic vulnerabilities into resilient capabilities across local, national, and global levels.

Francisca Mutapi 

Edinburgh Pandemic Research Forum

Media coverage - The Guardian