Financial Crisis at ProMED, the Infectious Disease Alert Email System

Since 1994, ProMED, the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, has provided alerts on potential infectious disease outbreaks through its free email subscription service.  ProMED was launched by the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), and it is “an essential source of information used daily by international public health leaders, government officials, physicians, veterinarians, researchers, private companies, journalists and the general public.”  A multidisciplinary global team of subject matter expert Moderators provide ProMED’s reports and commentary.  ProMED was the first to report on the SARS coronavirus diseases, MERS, and “a cluster of pneumonia-like infections of unknown origin in Wuhan, China” – the first warning of COVID-19.  [See 12/20/2019 ProMED email; link loads slowly.]  In July, ISID announced ProMED faced a financial crisis and would start paid subscription access to ProMED’s information.  Over half of ProMED’s paid editors and moderators announced a strike and urged ISID to partner with other organizations to better manage ProMED.  ProMED is still operating, but in a limited capacity.  Infectious disease and public health physicians, researchers, and administrators around the globe are greatly concerned.  Virologist Angela Rasmussen posted “the neglect of and failure to invest in public health and research infrastructure puts us all at greater risk.”