The heads of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization came away from the first U.S.-WHO Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday with a commitment to create a new financial intermediary fund for global pandemic prevention and preparedness. Xavier Becerra and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus agreed that national and global capacities “must be strong, agile, ever improving, and always fit-for-purpose.”
“As the world looks to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that we must be better prepared going forward, something highlighted by recent outbreaks of monkeypox, Ebola, and polio,” they said in a joint statement. The pair urged other world leaders to help finance and sustain the new fund. On Thursday, the WHO will start the second round of public hearings on pandemic prevention and preparedness, that were set up last December under an intergovernmental negotiating body. The first round was held in April. For the second round, interest parties were asked to submit a video statement of no more than 90 seconds answering the question: “Based on your experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, what do you believe should be addressed at the international level to better protect against future pandemics?” The hearings will continue into Friday.
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