A new report by the NUS-Lancet Commission on Pandemic Preparedness (a joint initiative of the National University of Singapore and the medical journal The Lancet) finds that distributing vaccines by population need rather than purchasing power could save more than 2.7 million additional lives in a future pandemic, though high-income countries would see higher death tolls under such a system. Researchers modelling a hypothetical global influenza outbreak also found that faster vaccine development and improved public confidence in vaccines could together prevent tens of millions of deaths. The report, released ahead of a United Nations high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness in New York, argues that effective pandemic response depends not only on medical capacity but on ensuring resources reach marginalised communities facing barriers such as overcrowding, lack of documentation, and language differences.