Infectious Diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods on a global scale more than any other event in the 21st century and reminds the world about the consistent threat of newly emerging and evolving infectious diseases.

Apart from pandemics, infectious diseases remain a main driver of death and suffering across the globe.¹ Many of them, like malaria or dengue, have a clear, yet expanding, geographical footprint. Others, like common pneumonia, HIV, influenza, or tuberculosis are prevalent in almost every country.

Humanity has made enormous progress in fighting infectious diseases over the last century by improving hygiene and developing and deploying highly successful vaccines and therapeutics.

At the same time, effective prevention and treatment of infectious diseases remain a major challenge across geographies. The lack of broad access to effective vaccines and therapeutics disproportionally hurts lower-income countries and disadvantaged groups in all countries.² Limited funding and lack of globally coordinated action prevent the elimination of existing diseases such as hepatitis C and mitigation of threats like antimicrobial resistance.³

In collaboration with relevant stakeholders, the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is interested in exploring long-term questions such as:

• What if three to five infectious diseases were no longer a public health threat a decade from now? How can we get there in practice?
• How can we, as societies, leverage the momentum gained fighting the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the threat of infectious diseases more broadly over the next decade?
• How can we improve access and use of therapeutics to treat infectious diseases today and avoid the full impact of the already-certain pandemic of antimicrobial resistance?