World Bank Calls for Emergency Fund for Disease Outbreaks

 

The World Bank Group has faulted the pace of the global response to the Ebola outbreak and called for an international fund to distribute money quickly to affected countries.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Friday at a Washington gathering of global finance officials, that the institutional toolbox is empty when it comes to health emergencies.

World Bank officials are looking at several ways of structuring an emergency facility, including setting up a system that would prepackage contingent funding agreements that could be activated when a global health emergency is declared.

Mr. Kim’s remarks follow those of President Barack Obama, who in September at a United Nations gathering criticized institutions like the U.N. for not moving fast enough. The U.N.’s health agency, the World Health Organization, has seen sharp budget cuts and has faced criticism from health groups about its Ebola response.