Industry Agenda Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation

The report analyzes private-sector engagement during the West African Ebola outbreak to propose structured collaboration models for future health emergencies. It categorizes private actors into in-country operators, expert capability companies, and greater contributors, noting that while the private sector provided significant funding and expertise, coordination was often ad hoc and reactive. The document argues for the establishment of pre-crisis networks, regulatory harmonization, and a centralized public-sector liaison to reduce transaction costs and accelerate response times.

• The private sector's contribution to the Ebola response was substantial but largely dominated by donations. Approximately 75% of the over 200 tracked initiatives involved funding or supplies, with commercial donations estimated between $100-200 million, though the Boston Consulting Group suggests the actual value may be three to six times higher when accounting for in-kind gifts and staff time.
• In-country operators, including multinationals and local firms, provided critical local capacity such as constructing treatment centers and implementing screening programs. For example, ArcelorMittal built treatment centers and conducted awareness programs, while the Dangote Foundation deployed thermal scanning systems at four Nigerian airports.
• Expert capability companies provided specialized services in logistics, biopharma, and technology. Logistics firms like UPS provided staging facilities in Germany, while pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Novavax invested in vaccine development. However, the lack of pre-established coordination meant companies had to divert staff and manufacturing from other projects, slowing the response.
• Technological and financial innovations emerged during the crisis, including the use of mobile data for mapping hotspots and the creation of a mobile payment system for health workers. A partnership involving the UNDP, the Government of Sierra Leone, Airtel, Africell, SplashMoney, and iDT Labs enabled transparent and efficient payments to approximately 60,000 health workers.
• Greater private-sector contributors, often motivated by corporate social responsibility, struggled with a lack of clear guidance on how to engage. This led to redundant contributions or donations that were impractical for the local environment, such as equipment requiring high power consumption in areas with limited electricity access.
• Collaboration was hindered by a lack of pre-established trust and formal governance. The Ebola Private Sector Mobilization Group (EPSMG) developed organically after the crisis began, which the report suggests led to missed opportunities because ways of working were not established in advance.
• The report proposes three specific collaboration models for the future: dedicated public health partnerships or emergency-focused networks for in-country operators; topic-specific collaborations (e.g., for biopharma R&D and logistics) for expert capability companies; and a centralized public-sector liaison (such as OCHA or the CDC Foundation) to coordinate greater private-sector contributors.
• To accelerate future vaccine and drug development, the report argues for a structured partnership to prioritize diseases, streamline regulatory pathways, and establish ethics frameworks for clinical trials during outbreaks, potentially supported by funding pools or purchase guarantees from entities like GAVI and the Gates Foundation.

APA

World Economic Forum (2015). Industry Agenda Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Managing_Risk_Epidemics_report_2015.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Industry Agenda Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation. 2015. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Managing_Risk_Epidemics_report_2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Industry Agenda Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation |date=June 2015 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Managing_Risk_Epidemics_report_2015.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2015industry, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Industry Agenda Managing the Risk and Impact of Future Epidemics: Options for Public-Private Cooperation}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Managing_Risk_Epidemics_report_2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }