Global disease reporting service ProMED faces uncertain future as funding runs out

ProMED, the free disease reporting service that in 2019 brought the world its first notification of a novel coronavirus causing sickness in China, is facing a strike by most of its editors after its owner, the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), shut down many of its services and said it will move to a paid subscription model in the autumn.ISID announced the change after a fundraising drive launched last October failed to attract any large backers, bringing in just $20 000 of a $1m target.The changes were announced last month in a letter addressed to the “ProMED community” and signed by “the ProMED team.” It lamented “an ongoing misperception that because ProMED has been around for so long and has such a successful track record, that it is well funded. Unfortunately, this is not the case. To put it frankly, ProMED is in dire financial straits.”1But an email sent…
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