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On the margins of this year’s World Health Assembly, alongside global health leaders, policymakers, and private sector partners, the WHO Foundation confirmed the renewal of MSD’s membership in the Health Emergencies Alliance: a three-year, $1.1 million commitment to strengthening WHO’s emergency preparedness and response work across two regions.
As a founding member of the HEA, MSD has supported the Alliance since its launch in 2022, when it focused on mobilizing urgent support for humanitarian emergencies. Today, the HEA has evolved into a platform with a broader ambition to underpin emergency preparedness, grounded in the recognition that emergencies cannot be tackled with reactive action and funding alone.
Two workstreams. Two regions. One commitment.
The $1.1 million will support WHO’s work across Africa and the Americas.
In Africa, $600,000 over three years will strengthen the WHO AFRO Emergency Hub in Dakar, one of two regional hubs dedicated to building capacity for anticipatory action across the continent. With a particular focus on AI-enabled, district-level forecasting for climate-sensitive diseases such as meningitis, the Dakar Hub works to translate data into decisions before emergencies escalate.
In the Americas, $500,000 will support the Emergency Medical Teams programme coordinated by WHO AMRO (PAHO), building a flexible health emergency workforce, able to deploy at short notice when disaster strikes. The value of this investment was demonstrated just months ago, when WHO AMRO coordinated the deployment of 16 emergency medical teams across Jamaica in response to Hurricane Melissa. This helped to restore five major referral hospitals and launch specialised psychosocial care for more than 1,600 health workers whose own homes were destroyed.
Why this moment matters
The HEA exists to bring together private sector partners in sustained, coordinated investment behind WHO’s emergency work. It provides the kind of long-term financing that preparedness systems require to scale. In its first year alone, the HEA mobilized over $1 million for life-saving response. Since then, it has grown into a stable community of private sector partners willing to take a proactive role in addressing some of the most complex threats to global health. MSD’s renewal deepens that foundation.
To learn more about the Health Emergencies Alliance and explore partnership opportunities, visit: our HEA page.
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