ProMED, an early warning system on disease outbreaks, appears near collapse
The early warning disease network that alerted the world to the original SARS outbreak and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be in peril. A number of the senior moderators of ProMED-mail, a program operated by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, posted a letter of protest early Thursday, challenging a recently revealed plan to charge for subscriptions to the service. The group of 21 moderators, who announced they were suspending work for ProMED, expressed a lack of confidence in the ISID’s administrative operations, suggesting ProMED needs to find a new home. “For most of us, creating ProMED’s content is a labor of love. However, we cannot be expected to continue working on good will alone,” the moderators wrote. The prospect of a potential collapse of the nearly 30-year-old program has the infectious diseases community aghast.