Science and solidarity: A new paradigm for global health
In a fragmented world, scientific communities remain one of the strongest bridges across countries, continents and societies. Every major advance in global health – vaccines, treatments, preventive measures – has been built on decades of collaboration that spanned borders. And every future response, whether to epidemics of hygiene-related diseases or to the next pandemic, will depend on the trust and cooperation already in place among scientists worldwide.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic showed, with devastating clarity, how a slow-moving but relentless global health crisis could reshape societies, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Covid-19, by contrast, was the first acute global pandemic since 1918 – striking all countries at once, overwhelming systems simultaneously and disrupting every aspect of daily life. Together, HIV and Covid remind us that global threats take different forms, but they all demand the same foundation: science that is collaborative, inclusive and sustained over time.
A fractured response
Amid the devastation of Covid-19, there were moments of achievement: community resilience, decisive governments, regional leadership and, above all, extraordinary scientific cooperation that produced diagnostics and vaccines at record pace. Yet the same moment exposed unacceptable inequities. Access to health care, diagnostics and vaccines was deeply polarised, especially between the Global North and Global South. The world was reminded, once again, that while science can be global, solidarity is too often selective.
This could have been a turning point. The success of cooperative science, combined with the urgency of equity, might have laid the foundation for a new paradigm of shared responsibility. Instead, other forces prevailed. The narrative of collective success was quickly drowned out by ideological agendas and disinformation. What could have united us instead deepened mistrust – an assault on science and a further weakening of multilateral cooperation.
The reverberations are ongoing.
Hyper-individualism surged, ‘survival of the fittest’ logic hardened and longstanding norms of cooperation came under strain. As climate change accelerates, old infections surge and new pathogens emerge, the pressing question is whether health systems are capable of protecting all populations and whether institutions will remain strong enough to act.
The answer lies in strengthening the connective tissue of science – networks, platforms, technologies and governance structures that allow collective action and embed equity.
The Pasteur Network offers one example.
This alliance of over 30 institutions spans five continents, linking public health institutes, universities and national laboratories – two-thirds of them in the Global South. It began with Louis Pasteur’s institute in Paris, and today it is multipolar, diverse and rooted in local realities. Each member is independently governed yet bound by shared scientific collaboration and a common mission: to improve health through science and service, grounded in solidarity.
Many member institutes sit in regions most exposed to emerging infectious diseases – in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. They have led national and regional responses to crises such as Ebola in West Africa, plague in Madagascar and mpox in Central Africa. Their scientists are not peripheral to global health – they are central actors, generating solutions from the front lines.
During Covid-19, the value of these longstanding ties became clear. Members exchanged genomic data, protocols, reagents and strategies in real time – often more swiftly than formal multilateral channels. Local diagnostics were created, variant surveillance launched and guidance adapted to each context. These successes were not imposed from above, but born of trust and enduring relationships.
Breakthroughs without borders
The impact of such a network cannot be captured only in publications or patents. Its value lies in resilience, readiness and contributions to public goods that benefit all. Structured, networked investments like this deliver exceptional returns – not only by averting crises, but also by generating local and regional innovation and fostering cooperation in a multipolar world.
A principle underpins this work: centres of excellence exist everywhere. Diversity is a strength, not a rhetorical flourish. Innovation is not confined to wealthy countries. Yet too often excellence in Africa, Asia or Latin America is underfunded and overlooked simply because it is less visible.
Reviving global solidarity requires building the architecture that enables it: networks, platforms, local and regional production capacity and inclusive governance. These structures also improve efficiency, by drawing on the unique strengths of each actor in a resource-constrained world.
If we want to accelerate innovation, we must support products and also the ecosystems that generate them – especially in historically underfunded regions. If we want to prepare for demographic and health transitions, we must enable systems to think and act collectively, across borders and disciplines. That requires long-term investment in mechanisms like the Pasteur Network that sustain trust, dialogue and knowledge flows across languages and cultures.
This is the infrastructure of 21st-century health: not walls, but bridges – and new ways to reward cooperation. The Pasteur Network collaborates with diverse partners from around the world, aiming to build more bridges and strengthen existing ones.
Solidarity is not optional – it is a necessity. The breakthroughs of our century will not come from the myth of isolated genius, but from organised cooperation, grounded in trust, equity and shared commitment.
