In accordance with the 2nd Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report titled “A World in Disorder” released on September 14, 2020, the world will take 500 years to spend on preparing for pandemics due to the loss driven by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
- The report called for responsible leadership, engaged citizenship, strong and agile systems for health security, sustained investment and robust global governance for preparedness in order to prevent the next pandemic.
- The GPMB is the joint arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.
Key Points:
-As per the report the cost of COVID-19 is over US$ 11 trillion to fund the response resulting in future loss of US$ 10 trillion in earnings.
-G7 (Group of Seven) and G20 (Group of Twenty) countries have a strong commitment to preparedness, but have struggled to implement a collective response due to global geopolitical tensions.
-Nearly 90% of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine supply has already been secured by Brazil, China, India, US, the UK and EU countries, leaving about 12% for the other 50% of the world.
-Communities living in India and Eastern Africa had faced locust invasions apart from COVID-19.
GPMB calls for seven urgent actions to prepare the world for health emergencies
They are
- Heads of government in every country must commit to preparedness by implementing their binding obligations under the International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)).
- G7, G20 and G77 Member States, and regional intergovernmental organizations must follow through on their political and funding commitments for preparedness.
- All countries must build strong systems
- Countries, donors and multilateral institutions must be prepared for the worst.
- Financing institutions must link preparedness with financial risk planning.
- Development assistance funders must create incentives and increase funding for preparedness.
- The United Nations must strengthen coordination mechanisms.
Click Here for Official Report
Recent Related News:
As per the latest report, ‘Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools Special focus on COVID-19’ released by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), around 818 million children across the world lacked basic hand-washing facilities in their schools which makes them prone to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other transmittable diseases.
About Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB):
It is an independent monitoring and accountability body to ensure preparedness for global health crises. It is led by its co-chairs, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former WHO Director-General, and Elhadj As Sy, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board
- It has 12 members including Professor Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
