The Group of 20 nations has raised $1.4 billion (R24.9 billion) for a global pandemic health fund to help prevent a repeat of the Covid-19 outbreak that has killed more than 6.6 million people. and crippled the world economy.
The World Bank will manage the fund to help low- and middle-income countries prevent and address future pandemics, drawing commitments from more than 20 donor countries, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. More commitments are expected.
“The amount that has accumulated so far is just the initial figure,” said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, finance minister of Indonesia, the host nation and leader of this year’s G-20 summit. “The estimated need is up to $31 billion, but this will not be the only instrument related to the preparation of the health system.”
G-20 nations began work to establish the fund last year under the Italian presidency as countries struggled to find enough money to fight the pandemic, running shortfalls of up to $16 billion, according to the World Health Organization. Health.
Three years after the start of COVID-19, Southeast Asia’s largest economy is pushing for equitable access to the global health infrastructure by making it a priority for this year’s G-20 meetings. That includes getting countries to harmonize health protocols and distribute research and manufacturing capacity for medical products.
“This will provide a starting point for all of us to show the world that the G20 can produce concrete actions that can have a global impact,” Indrawati said at the launch of the fund in Bali on Sunday.
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