A professor hired by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the feasibility of its $31.1 billion pandemic preparedness and response plan has expressed doubts about its cost-effectiveness. Garrett Brown, a global health policy expert, has raised concerns about the funding of such an initiative, particularly given the difficulty in financing existing efforts targeting communicable diseases like AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. While the $31.1 billion amount is an estimate from the WHO, the G20, and the World Bank, Brown questions whether this figure is justifiable. Furthermore, he worries about general health care budgets being affected by funds being shifted towards pandemic response. The plan’s expected funding sources include high-income nations like the US and UK, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As negotiations on a global pandemic accord continue, some are concerned that such an agreement could undermine countries’ ability to respond to pandemics autonomously.