SPECIAL FEATURE
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We are making the case that
healthcare needs to be prioritized within government spending.
WORLD BANK SUPPORT The World Bank has supported fragile countries with early detection and rapid response to contain the spread of COVID-19. In Yemen, along with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, it helped to establish 37 isolation units and supply medicines and medical equipment. It also supported training and deployment of rapid response teams to 84 high-priority districts, where they are helping detect and respond to COVID-19. In addition to first response and supporting countries with a focus on the purchase of PPE, medicines and the upgrading of health facilities, the World Bank supports vaccine operations. In Ecuador, the World Bank’s US$150 million financing will be used to purchase vaccines as well as manage supply chains, logistics and distribution. With this funding, the government expects to vaccinate approximately 30 percent of the population.
Mamta Murthi, World Bank Vice President, Human Development
Vaccine Acquisition Trust. The World Bank is also working with countries to participate in these pools so they can use joint purchasing power. OFQ : Did you change your strategy towards partnerships in the context of the pandemic? MM: The COVID-19 pandemic has made everyone work with each other a lot more, because nobody can handle this crisis on their own. What we see now
and want to encourage even more is the power of coming together. There's a partnership in virtually every activity that we engage in, it's almost hard to imagine what we could do on our own. The pandemic really showed how institutions, despite their different mandate and operating styles, rules and procedures, can actually come together when there is a global emergency that needs to be addressed by everyone.
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