- 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.
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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.