WHO needs strong augmentation for better pandemic response: FM

Sitharaman was participating in the two-day G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting virtually under the presidency of Indonesia.

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the global community should be better prepared to deal with crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic, underscored the importance of multilateral agencies in fighting such pandemics, and said the functioning of the World Health Organisation (WHO) needs “strong augmentation” to help lower and middle-income countries.

In another session, Sitharaman spoke about the global economic outlook and risks such as inflation, supply chain disruptions and new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Participating in a virtual panel discussion with US treasury secretary Janet Yellen, World Bank Group president David Malpass and Singapore senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on mobilising finance for global public goods, Sitharaman said low and middle-income countries require resources for even small things such as syringes and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and that the global community must quickly respond to their needs at the time of a pandemic such as Covid-19 or in coping with the climate crisis.

Sitharaman was participating in the two-day G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting virtually under the presidency of Indonesia. The meeting will discuss current global economic issues and G20 priorities for the ongoing calendar year, a finance ministry spokesperson said.

“So, we need to have a preparedness, which is transparently managed, which is multilaterally supported… because eventually all these have to come through multilateral institutions. WHO’s centrality is not being undermined at all. But WHO’s own ways of doing things, and also organising capabilities, need strong augmentation…,” she said adding that this approach would help global communities provide quick and adequate support to low and middle-income countries.

An independent panel set up by WHO at the behest of its decision-making body World Health Assembly in May last year criticised both the multilateral health agency and global governments for their poor response to the Codid-19 pandemic. “For the Panel it is clear that the combination of poor strategic choices, unwillingness to tackle inequalities, and an uncoordinated system created a toxic cocktail which allowed the pandemic to turn into a catastrophic human crisis,” the report said.

The finance minister shared insights on India’s policy response and suggested that recovery measures have to be built around a long-term vision. She emphasised on addressing structural bottlenecks to reduce the pandemic’s scarring effects and build resilience.

Sitharaman said it is crucial to address the gaps in global pandemic preparedness and said that the work of G20 joint finance and health task force should progress in this direction.

India will be steering the forthcoming presidency of G20, a major international grouping of 19 major economies and the European Union (EU). Its members account for 80% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 75% of global trade and 60% of global population. India, which is a member of the group since its inception in 1999, will be holding the G20 Presidency from December 1, 2022 and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2023 for the first time.

The Union cabinet on Tuesday approved the setting up of a G20 Secretariat and its reporting structures, which will be responsible for implementation of overall policy decisions and arrangements needed for steering India’s forthcoming G20 Presidency.

India will hold the Presidency of the G20 from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023, culminating with the G20 Summit in India in 2023. The Secretariat, which will be guided by an Apex Committee headed by Prime Minister, will be functional till February 2024.