YASMINE BELKAID Yasmine Belkaid is presi- dent of the Institut Pasteur and head of its Meta- organism laboratory. She joined the US National Institute of Allergy and
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. ▪
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
Infectious Diseases in 2005, and served as department chair of the Laboratory of Host Im- munity and Microbiome, director of the trans-NIH Center for Human Immunology, and founder and director of the NIAID Microbiome programme until joining the Institut Pasteur in 2024. She is a member of the National Academy of Sci- ences, the American Academy of Arts and Sci- ences, the National Academy of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Society and recipient of numerous awards. @pasteur.fr pasteur.fr
MARIO SANTOS MOREIRA Mario Santos Moreira is president of the board of the Pasteur Network and has been president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) since 2023, hav- ing joined the foundation in 1994. He represents the
Americas on the board of the Pasteur Network, is a member of the steering committee of the Inter- national Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat and chairs the Strategic Advisory Group on Strength- ening Regional Innovation and Manufacturing Capacities for Medicines and Other Health Tech- nologies at the Pan American Health Organiza- tion. He is a member of the Emergency Advisory Group at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and chair of the Assembly of the
Paraná Institute of Molecular Biology. X-TWITTER @Mario_S_Moreira fiocruz.br
REBECCA GRAIS Rebecca Grais is the executive director of the Pasteur Network. She previ- ously served as director of research at Epicentre, an epidemiology and research branch of Médecins Sans
Frontières. Her work primarily focuses on the pre- vention of infectious diseases and emerging infec- tions in low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on public health intervention studies and efficacy trials of new vaccines and therapeu- tics. She is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts at the World Health Organiza- tion and a board member of MSF France.
Health: A Political Choice – The Future of Health in a Fractured World 71
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