Safer: A Playbook for Turning Fear into Action and Crisis into Community

"Raj Panjabi is one of the smartest people around on health issues... and one of the best-placed people to guide us through this terrain and keep us safe." —Nicholas Kristof

The only playbook you will ever need for planning and dealing with emergency situations, from floods to illness, from the acclaimed disease expert and former head of the White House Pandemic Response Team

If you can’t trust authority, who can you trust?

At a moment when reliable information—whether from top-down authority or from the noise of social media and AI—feels more difficult to discern, we turn to experts like Dr. Raj Panjabi to share his expertise from decades on the front lines of crisis, both global and closer to home.

Here, Dr. Panjabi explains how to be safer in chaotic times by cultivating resilience, self-reliance, and community. Each chapter includes a "play" with takeaways, such as "visualize various outcomes so you can prepare for them" and "take the time to understand your inner, middle, and outer circles of connection and what they can each provide in a time of need."
Learn critical information to keep yourself and your family safe, including:

• the people you’re already connected to are necessary to your safety
• a pandemic is as much about conditions as it is about contagion
• how to move past helplessness, fear, and denial and into action
• a step-by-step playbook for getting through any crisis
• the truth about Covid's origins and what we can do better next time

In exploring how we can translate the lessons of recent crises into a safer future, Dr. Panjabi shares what he has learned on the ground, taking us from the rural clinics of Liberia to the working-class cities of Massachusetts, from Alaskan fishing villages to the White House. He writes not only as a doctor navigating life and death decisions, but as a son, a father, and a husband navigating his own family’s fears and vulnerabilities.

We can’t avoid viruses or personal emergencies, but if we proactively strengthen our homes and our communities, and develop safety strategies now, we can emerge from the next crisis safer and more connected than we were before. Our safety lies in our ability to move at the speed of trust.

"Dr. Raj Panjabi has helped lead the global battle against infectious disease for decades. He's a brilliant thinker and writer whose understanding of pandemics is unrivaled. This is a necessary book." - John Green, New York Times bestselling author of Everything is Tuberculosis and Trustee for Partners in Health

"Insightful and timely, Dr. Raj Panjabi's book shows that true resilience is about community, empathy, and building connections. SAFER offers an inspiring roadmap for a healthier, more connected future." - Ariana Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global

"Raj Panjabi is one of the smartest people around on health issues, and one of the very few with expertise in the rich world and the developing world alike. Pandemics will be a central challenge for humanity in the years ahead, and Raj is one of the best-placed people to guide us through this terrain and keep us safe." - Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist

"SAFER offers powerful proof that only by coming together, both within and across borders, can we create a safer, healthier world." - Susan Rice, Former Domestic Policy Advisor to President Biden and National Security Advisor to President Obama

"Amid declining trust in public health, Dr. Panjabi’s Safer offers a clear path forward. This book blends scientific insight with a focus on trust and resilience, serving as a guide for creating communities that help each other thrive."

"SAFER is a vital read for anyone invested in the future of global health. It brilliantly articulates why fostering community resilience is as essential as medical preparedness, urging us to empower local leadership and strengthen community ties to face the challenges ahead." - Helen Clark, Former President of New Zealand

"An essential read for anyone who cares about personal health and the collective well-being of our world. Dr. Panjabi will make the compelling case that preparedness is not enough—trust and community resilience are the core of our defense. A crucial call to action." - Anthony Fauci, Former Director National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases and Former Chief Medical Advisor to the President

"A deeply human and necessary exploration of how to respond to threat. With its vivid storytelling and practical insights, SAFER reminds us that resilience is found in our connections and that the battle for health is also a battle for unity and trust. In a time when many feel vulnerable, this book is a crucial source of hope and direction." - Helene Cooper, New York Times Chief Foreign Correspondent

"A powerful reminder that trust and collaboration are our most valuable assets in a pandemic. SAFER captures the heart of why we need to protect communities from the ground up." - Larry Brilliant, American epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author

"Dr. Panjabi’s book provides a unique, on-the-ground perspective on responses to recent epidemics, including TB, Ebola, AIDS, and COVID at a time of eroding trust in public health, science, and government officials. SAFER will be critical in how we determine health, economic, and social outcomes." - Victor Dzau, President of the US National Academy of Medicine and Former President of Duke Medical Center