PLoS Medicine
(Accessed 15 December 2012)
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/browse.action?field=date

Preventing Pandemics Via International Development: A Systems Approach
Tiffany L. Bogich, Rumi Chunara, David Scales, Emily Chan, Laura C. Pinheiro, Aleksei A. Chmura, Dennis Carroll, Peter Daszak, John S. Brownstein
Policy Forum, published 11 Dec 2012
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001354

Summary Points
The way in which public health programs are designed and funded has changed significantly; however, the trend toward establishing vertical, disease-specific global health programs may be at the cost of strengthening basic public health infrastructure and development in the long term.

In a review of nearly 400 public health events of international concern, we found that a breakdown or absence of public health infrastructure was the driving factor in the largest fraction of outbreaks (39.5%). No single other driving factor accounted for more than 10% of outbreaks.

The relative roles of emergency response versus long-term development strategies to mitigate infectious disease threats are being debated within bilateral and intergovernmental aid agencies.

We propose a systems approach within development agencies to address pandemic prevention at the intersection of people and their environment where the risk of disease emergence is highest. To achieve this goal, mainstream development funding, rather than emergency funding, is required.