US Treasury Secretary Janet Glenn today called on G20 nations to support a proposal to set up a pandemic fund to warn that a failure to close the gap in global health systems could have “catastrophic” costs. .
Glenn told the finance ministers and central bankers of the world’s 20 largest economies that the new World Bank-mediated financial assistance fund would help channel $ 75 billion in needed investment to lower the that the world is vulnerable to future pandemics.
“As the human and economic trauma of the (COVID-19) pandemic is fresh in our minds, we have the political opportunity to act to address the weaknesses in the global health architecture,” she said in a written statement. “The cost, if not done, could be catastrophic,” he added.
Glenn sought to dispel some of the G20 countries’ reservations about the proposed Fund, arguing that it would not raise the funds needed to strengthen the World Health Organization or to create a new multinational.
“We do not see it as a pool of money that will not be used until the next pandemic strikes,” he said, adding that the new fund would help motivate countries to invest in disease detection and surveillance systems to prepare for future crises.
There will be other investment in research laboratories or to strengthen countries’ health staff, Glenn said, adding that the flexibility of the new Fund will also allow countries to mobilize additional resources from non-governmental sources to prepare for pandemics. “We need to start our work now to set up this Fund so that it is ready to operate as soon as possible,” he said.
The US Secretary of the Treasury called on the Multilateral Working Group, consisting of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization, to outline clear, operational measures to ensure that people anywhere in the world have access to against COVID-19.
The Working Group should, moreover, prepare a country-wide evaluation of the work done to promote vaccine supply and vaccination efforts, as well as supplies for diagnosis, treatment and personal protective equipment.
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