Singapore Warning, Next Global Pandemic Will Happen

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The corona pandemic (Covid-19) as it is today, is not the last pandemic on earth. The next global pandemic will happen again, anytime and the world must prepare from now on.

This was stated by the Senior Minister Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. According to him, prevention of the next global pandemic must be done.

“We don’t have the luxury of waiting for Covid-19 to end, before starting to prepare for the next pandemic. Because another pandemic could come at any time,” Tharman said during an interview at the G-20 Italy summit, quoted CNBC International, Tuesday (12/7/2021).

“So we must use current efforts to contain Covid, also build the capacity needed to prevent the next pandemic.”

The G-20 itself has released a report on measures to prevent future outbreaks. Tharman chaired the panel alongside former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The main focus is on better funding for the World Health Organization (WHO). Including utilizing multilateral institutions such as the World Bank (World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the ‘war’ against the pandemic.

Currently, Tharman said, the international system for responding to the pandemic is fragmented and underfunded. To close the gap, the panel has proposed the creation of a new global fund of at least $10 billion per year.

“So what is lacking today in the global system is to have health governance under the World Health Assembly and WHO, (but) you don’t have a system that brings finance and health together,” Tharman said.

“And that’s why the system is underfunded. It reacts after events—after a crisis breaks out—and cannot proactively prevent future crises.”

Currently the corona pandemic is indeed a global scourge, even destroying the economy along with social restrictions and the lockdown of a number of countries. From data WorldometersCovid-19 alone has infected a total of 186 million people in the world and caused 4 million deaths.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

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