World Health Organisation, in conjunction with African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has launched the new health impact investment platform with an initial €1.5 billion investment to strengthen essential, climate and crisis-resilient primary health care (PHC) services.
WHO had estimated that preparing for future pandemics by low- and low-and-middle income countries (LICs and LMICs) will require investment in the order of US$ 31.1 billion annually and approximately one third of that total would have to come from international financing.
The platform, launched during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact being held in Paris, will make an initial €1.5 billion available to low- and LICs and LMICs in concessional loans and grants to expand the reach and scope of their PHC services, especially for the most vulnerable and underserved populations and communities.
The African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and WHO are the Platform’s founding members.
As this is a global challenge, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is also considering joining this partnership in view of extending this initiative to Latin America and the Caribbean region.
WHO Director-General, Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros, in a remark said “Around 90% of essential health services can be delivered through PHC – on the ground, in communities, via health professionals, doctors and nurses, in local clinics. The broad spectrum of services that PHC provides can promote health and prevent disease, avoid and delay the need for more costly secondary and tertiary services, and deliver rehabilitation.
“PHC serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a country’s health system, reaching to the very communities where people live. The new Health Impact Investment Platform will strengthen the development of such services, serving as an invaluable investment in the health of populations today and in the future.”
EIB President Werner Hoyer said the partner development banks were committed to supporting countries to strengthen their primary health care services, to both promote the health of their communities and protect against the impacts of future health emergencies.
According to Hoyer, “Cooperation among multilateral development banks through the new Health Impact Investment Platform will ensure countries in need are better able to build resilient primary health care services that can withstand the shocks of future health crises, and safeguard communities and economies for the future.
“We already proved that in earlier collaborations with the WHO. The platform will facilitate access to crucial international financing for the most vulnerable. It is a concrete deliverable of President Macron’s call to increase international financial solidarity with the Global South.”
African Development Bank Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, in a remark, declared the cooperation will help guide investments by national governments to strengthen primary health care and their overall health systems, increase universal health coverage and improve their ability to prepare for, prevent and respond to health emergencies.
He added, “We will work with countries individually to identify gaps in national health systems, design interventions and investment strategies, find funding, implement projects and monitor their impact.”
lan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, said good health and well-being are common goals that bind the world together and to achieve these goals, countries and institutions must collaborate.
He added, “We are convinced that cooperation – not only between nations but also between governments and the private sector – is critical to achieving universal health coverage. Recognizing the global nature of this investment platform, we are already in discussions with other stakeholders to expand these efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean. We extend an open invitation to our partners to join this global investment platform.”
WHO will act as the platform’s policy coordinator, responsible for ensuring alignment of financing decisions with national health priorities and strategies.
The platform’s secretariat will support governments to develop national health and prioritize PHC investment plans. The Platform will also aim to catalyse wider PHC investments in support of government health strategies.
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