Pandemic Preparedness and COVID-19 (coronavirus)

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the risk of major disease outbreaks and highlighted countries’ lack of preparedness to fight them. Pandemics are large disease outbreaks that affect several countries and pose major health, social, and economic risks. A quick-moving pathogen spreading across the globe has the potential to kill tens of millions of people, disrupt economies, and destabilize national security – just as COVID-19 has demonstrated. Climate change, urbanization, and the lack of water and sanitation are all factors that could contribute to fast-spreading, catastrophic outbreaks.

Preventing, Preparing for, and Responding to Disease Outbreaks and Pandemics : Future Directions for the World Bank Group

COVID-19 has unleashed a worldwide shock wave with severe health, economic and social consequences which will affect many countries for years to come. Pandemic preparedness and disease surveillance anchored in strong health systems that reach all people—especially the most vulnerable—are crucial to ensure better protection from major disease outbreaks. Ensuring and investing in preparedness before a crisis strikes saves lives and ultimately saves money.

Global Preparedness Monitoring Board

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) is an independent monitoring and accountability body co-convened by the World Bank and World Health Organization, created in response to recommendations by the UN Secretary General’s Global Health Crises Task Force in 2017.

Despite progress made since the West Africa Ebola crisis in 2014/15, GPMB’s 2020 report, A World in Disorder,  notes how the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a collective failure to take pandemic prevention, preparedness and response seriously and prioritize it accordingly.  GPMB warned that epidemic-prone diseases like Ebola, influenza and SARS were increasingly difficult to manage in the face of prolonged conflict, fragile states, and forced migration.

Anti-Microbial Resistance

Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) also poses a significant and growing health and financial threat to countries at all income levels. AMR occurs when microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites) cannot be treated by medicines that were previously effective. Investing in strengthening health systems and preparedness for pandemics and other infectious disease outbreaks is one of the best ways to contain AMR.

Also read the reports, "Pulling Together to Beat Superbugs: Knowledge and Implementation Gaps in Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance" and "Landscape Analysis of Tools to Address Antimicrobial Resistance" to learn more.

Last Updated: Feb 07, 2023

Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) have long been important priorities for the World Bank and have gained increased prominence in the context of COVID-19. Following the Ebola outbreak in West and Central Africa (2014-16), pandemic preparedness was incorporated as an explicit policy commitment in IDA18, the fund for the poorest countries. Since then, PPR commitments were expanded in IDA19 and are front and center in IDA20, which was negotiated during COVID-19.

The IDA20 Human Capital Special Theme takes a dual-track approach to address the challenges facing IDA countries, including the need to support countries to progress towards universal health coverage and expand human capital investments (essential elements for accelerating green, resilient, and inclusive development), while strengthening preparedness in all IDA countries and helping to advance a One Health approach in at least 20 countries.

The World Bank’s sustained commitment to PPR has accompanied a significant scale-up of health system strengthening, which provides a critical foundation for improved preparedness.

The World Bank has unique comparative advantages in supporting the PPR agenda.

• Strong capacity to finance: The Bank is well positioned to finance country and regional programs with long-term, predictable resources; a varied set of financing instruments and products; and the ability to operate swiftly, including through surge financing during crises.
• Deep technical expertise and years of experience in PPR and health systems strengthening. As one of the world’s most significant sources of financing and knowledge for development, the Bank has a track record of more than 20 years of providing financing and conducting analytical work in support of the PPR agenda.
• Decentralized footprint with a significant in-country presence and strong relationships. The WBG has physical offices and representation in more than 130 locations, which gives the institution contextual knowledge and allows it to maintain strong in-country relationships.
• Country ownership and implementation. The World Bank’s country-driven model ensures that financial support is tailored to each borrowing country’s needs, performance, and development plans, while providing strong incentives to reduce debt vulnerabilities.
• Multisectoral expertise and approach. The World Bank engages through multiple sectors, supporting coordinated investments and reforms aimed at building human capital, reducing poverty and inequality, and accelerating climate friendly development.
• Comprehensive approach to crisis prevention, mitigation, and response. The WBG’s strong track record in disaster risk management can bring an integrated approach to risk reduction, preparedness, and responses, building on work in the areas of disaster risk management.
• Convening and strategic partnerships. The WBG has the capacity to bring together relevant actors at the global, regional, and country levels and across sectors.
• Ability to work with the private sector. The IFC offers direct advisory services to governments on private sector participation and financing to expand private sector capacity in support of the PPR agenda.

COVID-19

The World Bank took broad, fast action to help developing countries and the poorest people during the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank delivered urgent support to over 100 countries, reaching 70 percent of the world’s population, with projects that deliver scale and impact. Our operational response is tailored to the health, economic and social shocks countries are facing.

Our vaccine operations help countries strengthen their vaccination systems and are critical to protecting lives and stimulating economic recovery by establishing policies for safe and effective vaccine deployment; expanding storage and building cold chains; developing tracking systems to make sure vaccines reach people; training front-line health workers and supporting citizen and community engagement programs.

Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Program

The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HEPR) Umbrella Program complements the World Bank’s efforts to provide further resources in response to COVID-19 and other health emergencies. The HEPR Umbrella Program provides upstream, catalytic, and rapid financing to the most vulnerable countries, including those unable to access traditional World Bank financing. The program offers a flexible mechanism that makes resources available before a country accesses other funding sources or even when there is insufficient domestic funding. 

Since inception in June 2020, the HEPR has supported more than 29 countries and regions with a total of over $100 million.

Last Updated: Feb 27, 2023

COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, the World Bank has been helping developing countries respond to the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19. The financing provided has been helping low- and middle-income countries purchase and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments, and strengthen vaccination systems. It also builds on the broader World Bank Group COVID-19 response, which is helping more than 100 countries strengthen health systems, support the poorest households, and create supportive conditions to maintain livelihoods and jobs for those hit hardest.

• Read how the Bank is mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 in the health sector.
• Learn about the World Bank Group vaccine announcement.
• See the World Bank Group COVID-19 project list of operational response.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Regional Investment Financing Project (ACDCP)

The World Bank’s Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Regional Investment Financing Project supports (with $250 million) Ethiopia, Zambia, and the African Union (AU) in combatting epidemics and advancing critical public health priorities. Launched in 2017, the project is linking existing public health institutions and pooling the capabilities of national health authorities. It is also financing the establishment of laboratories, transnational surveillance networks, emergency-response mechanisms, and other public health assets designed to manage diseases on a regional and continental scale. The project is supporting the implementation of Africa CDC’s flagship innovation RISLNET (Regional Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Network) in the Eastern and Southern Africa regions.

It supports the development of guidelines and standards to improve coordination between the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and national public health institutions across the African continent. The project facilitates the sharing of public health assets and the exchange of vital data on infectious diseases. It also aims to build the capacity of regional and continental public health institutions.

Regional Disease Surveillance Systems (REDISSE)

Currently in its fourth phase, the REDISSE Program leverages $657 million of World Bank financing to improve surveillance and laboratory capacity in 16 countries in West and Central Africa. Recipients include Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo, West African Health Organization (WAHO).

REDISSE provides countries with financing that is under their direct control to address key priorities. It ensures that financing for emergency responses is in place to decrease response delays in the event of a disease outbreak. It also finances regional level policy dialogue to promote information exchange, collective action and efficient use of country and shared resources, training institutions and commodity stockpiles for disease surveillance and response. Through the program, participating countries have also benefited from an early and immediate access to World Bank financing for COVID-19 preparedness and response, while complementary country-specific financing was mobilized from the World Bank’s COVID-19 Fast-Track Facility. 

East Africa Health Laboratory Networking Project

The East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project is a World Bank-funded regional laboratory network that includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The project has significantly increased regional capacity to detect outbreaks and mount rapid effective responses, with access to quality diagnostic services expanded to vulnerable groups in border areas and serving over 10 million people (of which 60 percent are female). 

Through a network of 41 upgraded laboratories, access to services has improved for vulnerable groups, while boosting cross-border disease outbreak preparedness.  The project has allowed the creation of 10 cross-border committees across the five countries and one between Kenya/Uganda and South Sudan; screenings at selected border crossing points; enhanced diagnostic capacities for laboratory-confirmation of pathogens (from 8% to 100%); joint investigations on Ebola, Marburg, and yellow fever; continued strengthening of pandemic preparedness to address risks of cross-border transmission; and roll out of a mobile phone reporting system on disease outbreaks.

Going forward, the network is also leveraged for the COVID-19 response. The laboratories have benefited from the latest molecular technologies that ensure rapid turnaround and greater accuracy and can now be leveraged for COVID-19 testing.

Last Updated: Feb 27, 2023