G20 ministers launch $1.4bn pandemic fund
Nusa Dua, Indonesia - G20 health and finance ministers launched a Us$1.4bn fund on
Sunday to tackle the next global pandemic ahead of the bloc’s leaders gathering for a summit
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali but the host’s president said it was not enough.
The 24-nation fund is viewed as one of the early global outcomes of the summit next week where little progress is expected on the Ukraine crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin not in
attendance. It was launched at a news conference on Sunday
opened by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and addressed by World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
and World Bank President David Malpass.
“The G20 agrees to build a pandemic fund to prevent and
prepare for a pandemic. Donors from G20 and non-g20 members, as well as philanthropic organisations, have contributed to the funds. But it is not enough,” Widodo said in a video address.
He said Us$31bn was required to tackle the next global pandemic. “We must ensure community resilience in the face of a
pandemic. A pandemic can no longer take lives and destroy the joints of the global economy.”
The United States has contributed Us$450mn to the fund,
Donors from G20 and non-g20 members, as well as philanthropic organisations have contributed to the funds. But its is not enough JOKO WIDODO
nearly a third of the total.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the joint fund was an example of what the G20 can do to tackle global problems.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished. I think the steps
we have taken this year will help deliver on a vision of a healthier and more responsive global health architecture,” she said.
Indonesia was at one point an epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic when a wave of Delta strain cases hit the country in mid-2021.
Its health system was overwhelmed by the number of infections and Jakarta produced its own homegrown vaccine as lower income countries became frustrated at more developed nations hoarding inoculations for their citizens.