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WHO urges Indonesia-led G20 to tackle pandemic funding gap
The World Health Organization has asked the Group of Twenty (G20) forum currently chaired by Indonesia to address a shortage of funds for the COVID-19 response.
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A sign of the World Health Organization is photographed in the late hours of Aug. 17, 2020, at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
The World Health Organization has asked the Group of Twenty (G20) forum, which is now under Indonesia’s presidency, to address a global funding gap for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO director-general, said on Friday that an additional US$23 billion would be needed this year for low-income countries to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of testing, vaccination and treatment rates.
So far, the vast majority of COVID-19 response funds has been spent in high-income countries. The WHO said spending needed to be more spread out internationally to reach many countries needing to improve their healthcare capabilities.
“It is an urgent investment and one of the most urgent and crucial things the G20 needs to address under the leadership of Indonesia in its presidency,” Aylward told reporters in Bali.
Due to the funding gap, the world was witnessing staggering vaccination and testing gaps, which Aylward referred to as a toxic mix of the two most important measures to deal with the pandemic.
Many G20 countries had achieved vaccination rates of at least 40 percent of their population, and some as high as 70 percent, while poor countries like in sub-Saharan Africa only had 7 percent, Aylward estimated.
Read also: What should Indonesia do to better respond to next pandemic?
