NTI | bio Experts Celebrate Launch of Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Fund

The World Bank officially established the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) on September 8 – 9, 2022. The FIF is the first financing mechanism focused primarily on PPR, and it will provide sustained funding to strengthen PPR capacities in low- and middle-income countries to protect against future epidemics and pandemics.

NTI | bio and partners played an instrumental role in the fund’s conception, development, and launch – demonstrating the value of the Global Health Security (GHS) Index as a tool to drive global health security progress. The 2019 GHS Index, which was the first comprehensive assessment of 195 nations’ capacities to prepare and respond to biological threats, found that no country was fully prepared for epidemics and pandemics.

In addition to its topline finding, the 2019 GHS Index report showed insufficient national-level investment in pandemic preparedness and response capabilities with only 5 percent of countries scoring in the top tier for financing. The report recommended the creation of new financing mechanisms to fill epidemic and pandemic preparedness gaps.

NTI partnered with the Pandemic Action Network to shape the financing mechanism concept with global partners. These advocacy efforts reached a high point at the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit, where NTI committed $35,000 to the FIF upon its establishment. The World Bank has reported more than $1.4 billion in new financial commitments to the FIF and fundraising continues toward a $10 billion annual goal.

Now that the fund is operational, the GHS Index can help prioritize FIF investments so that resources can be allocated to the countries in greatest need to address the most significant health security gaps.