The catastrophe risk modeling firm is also collaborating with the World Bank on the launch of their Pandemic Facility

Pandemic MERS

AIR Worldwide announced today that outbreaks of six additional diseases have been added to its Global Pandemic Model. In addition to this, AIR is collaborating with the World Bank on the expected launch of the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF).

AIR Worldwide associate of the society of actuaries, senior manager of life and health modeling Doug Fullam said: “Large-scale infectious disease pandemics can cause millions of deaths and billions – or even trillions – of dollars in economic and insured losses.”

He added: “The possible frequency and scale of these perils are shifting as global connectivity grows, animal habitats alter, medical advancements continue, the population ages, and the climate changes. It’s important to assess the potential risk to today’s life and health portfolios.”

Regarding the PEF, which includes an insurance window that combines funding from the reinsurance and/or insurance-linked securities markets and is expected to release funds quickly in the event of an outbreak, World bank development finance manager Priya Basu said: “We’re confident that AIR Worldwide’s analytical and execution capabilities can help ensure that funds mobilized by the PEF are able to help prevent rare, high-severity outbreaks from becoming more deadly and costly pandemics.”