People queue outside a coronavirus disease vaccination centre  in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo Reuters
People queue outside a coronavirus disease vaccination centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo Reuters

G-20 unveils R25bn global pandemic fund

Norman Harsono and Claire Jiao
The Group of 20 nations has raised US$1.4 billion for a global pandemic health fund to help avoid a repeat of the Covid-19 outbreak that killed over 6.6 million people and crippled the world economy.

The World Bank will manage the fund to help low- and middle-income countries prevent and address future pandemics, drawing commitments from more than 20 country donors, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. More pledges are expected.

"The amount that has so far been accumulated is just the starting figure," said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, finance minister of Indonesia, the host nation and head of this year’s G-20 summit. "The estimated need is up to US$31 billion, but this will not be the one and only instrument related to health system preparedness."

G-20 nations began work setting up the fund last year under the presidency of Italy as countries struggled to find enough money to fight the pandemic, with a shortfall of up to $16 billion, according to the World Health Organization.

Three years after the onset of Covid-19, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is pushing for equal access to the global health infrastructure by making it a priority for G-20 meetings this year. That includes getting countries to harmonise health protocols and distribute research and manufacturing capacity for medical products.

"This will provide a starting point for all of us to demonstrate to the world that G20 is able to produce concrete action that can have a global impact," Indrawati said on Sunday during the fund’s launch in Bali.-Fin24

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-12

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 596.65/OZ DOWN -0.0105 | Copper US$ 4.13/lb DOWN -0.0243 | Zinc US$ 2 965.80/T UP 0.24% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 72.21/BBP UP +0.07% | Platinum US$ 944.79/OZ DOWN -0.0189 Sport results: Premier League: Chelsea 1 vs 1 Arsenal | Tottenham Hotspur 1 vs 2 Ipswich Town | Nottingham Forest 1 vs 3 Newcastle | Manchester United 3 vs 0 Leicester City | Liverpool 2 vs 0 Aston Villa | Brighton 2 vs 1 Manchester City | Wolves 2 vs 0 Southampton | West Ham 0 vs 0 Everton | Crystal Palace 0 vs 2 Fulham | Brentford 3 vs 2 Bournemouth Weather: Katima Mulilo: 20° | 34° Rundu: 20° | 31° Eenhana: 20° | 34° Oshakati: 23° | 33° Ruacana: 21° | 34° Tsumeb: 21° | 30° Otjiwarongo: 19° | 33° Omaruru: 20° | 36° Windhoek: 18° | 32° Gobabis: 20° | 34° Henties Bay: 14° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 06:17, High tide: 12:44, Low Tide: 18:58, High tide: 01:18 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:15, High tide: 12:42, Low Tide: 18:56, High tide: 01:16 Walvis Bay: 13° | 21° Wind speed: 31km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:15, High tide: 12:41, Low Tide: 18:56, High tide: 01:15 Rehoboth: 18° | 32° Mariental: 17° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 17° | 34° Aranos: 19° | 35° Lüderitz: 14° | 32° Ariamsvlei: 18° | 34° Oranjemund: 13° | 22° Luanda: 25° | 27° Gaborone: 17° | 31° Lubumbashi: 18° | 34° Mbabane: 13° | 26° Maseru: 12° | 26° Antananarivo: 15° | 32° Lilongwe: 23° | 35° Maputo: 20° | 33° Windhoek: 18° | 32° Cape Town: 16° | 20° Durban: 18° | 23° Johannesburg: 14° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 32° Harare: 19° | 27° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.06 | EUR to NAD 19.24 | CNY to NAD 2.51 | USD to NAD 18.14 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.29 | EGP to NAD 0.36 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.66 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.13 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 133.09 | USD to AOA 918.14 | USD to BWP 13.56 | USD to EGP 49.16 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1654.88 | USD to ZAR 18.14 | USD to ZMW 27.15 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1851.79 Down -1.41% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14691.26 Up +0.19% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 31621.29 Up +0.72% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9879.51 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 596.65/OZ DOWN -0.0105 | Copper US$ 4.13/lb DOWN -0.0243 | Zinc US$ 2 965.80/T UP 0.24% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 72.21/BBP UP +0.07% | Platinum US$ 944.79/OZ DOWN -0.0189