Global Health NOW: A New Mindset for Health Security
Marija Cemma, Canadian Science Policy fellow

“…A report from the World Bank’s International Working Group on Financing Preparedness … offers an integrated framework of 12 recommendations to approach financing pandemic preparedness at a national level. The report aims to provide a roadmap for countries to develop a prioritized and costed national plan to buttress universal health security, create an investment case and change management strategy for buy-in by relevant stakeholders, and to locate appropriate funding exploring various financing mechanisms. … The true focus of the report lies in enabling national governments to share the responsibility and impressing the value of robust health security beyond health ministries to include the finance ministry, the private sector, and population at large. This, however, will require a major shift in thinking. … Strengthening pandemic preparedness will … strengthen health systems to deal with endemic diseases and antimicrobial resistance, contribute to Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) … National preparedness is key. In today’s globally interconnected community, we are only as strong as our weakest link” (6/5).