IMF, World Bank, and WHO Enhance Cooperation for Pandemic Preparedness
The leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have announced a new cooperative framework aimed at enhancing global pandemic preparedness.
The agreement focuses on leveraging the strengths of each institution to provide countries with comprehensive support in preventing, detecting, and responding to public health threats.
The collaboration will utilize the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), which offers eligible member countries long-term financing at low interest rates to implement essential reforms that bolster health systems and address structural economic challenges posed by pandemics.
By combining the financial resources of the IMF, the technical support from the WBG, and WHO’s in-country expertise, the three institutions aim to create a more resilient global health infrastructure.
Under the newly established Broad Principles of Coordination, the WHO and WBG will lead health-related development policies and specific project investments for pandemic preparedness, while ensuring that RST financing is utilized for overarching reforms rather than earmarked for individual projects. This strategy will enable member countries to integrate macro-critical policy reforms and operational support into their pandemic readiness initiatives.
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, highlighted the importance of this collaboration: “By complementing and leveraging each other’s expertise, we can help our member countries strengthen pandemic preparedness and enhance the resilience of their health systems. The IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust allows access to affordable financing, vital for addressing structural challenges that threaten macroeconomic stability.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, echoed these sentiments, stating, “The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity for new financing sources to reinforce health systems, enabling them to better prevent, detect, and respond to epidemics. We are proud to partner with the IMF and World Bank to unlock financing from the Resilience and Sustainability Trust for a safer world.”
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga emphasized the urgency of preparedness: “We must proactively plan for the next global health crisis. This collaboration focuses on ensuring that countries have the necessary health workforce, testing laboratories, and surge capacity to respond effectively when crises arise.”
