This article originally appeared on World Economic Forum. Below is a brief excerpt.
For the first time ever, governments across the world now understand the need to take pandemic preparedness seriously.
But while there may be broad consensus in the G7 and G20 about some of the measures needed to prevent — or at least mitigate — the next pandemic, one of the most pressing questions remains unanswered: how are we going to pay for it?
Given the economic repercussions of the war in Ukraine, and with many governments still reeling from the economic impact of COVID-19, is there a smart and pain-free way to achieve pandemic preparedness?
With innovative financing there is.
For more than a decade, such mechanisms have been used to optimize public and private sector funds and reduce financial risk, in order to accelerate access to health and medical interventions. This has already prevented millions of deaths. In fact, throughout this pandemic, innovative financing has protected hundreds of millions of people from COVID-19.