G20 Summit: New Delhi declaration resolves to strengthen global health architecture

India scored a major diplomatic victory when G20 unanimously adopted New Delhi declaration.

Besides other issues, the declaration focused on health and pandemic prevention.

The member nations resolved to strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) through enhanced collaboration between Finance and Health Ministries under the Joint Finance and Health Task Force (JFHTF).

“Under the JFHTF, we welcome the participation of invited key regional organizations in the Task Force meetings as they enhance the voice of low-income countries. We welcome the discussion on the Framework on Economic Vulnerabilities and Risks (FEVR) and the initial Report for Economic Vulnerabilities and Risks arising from pandemics, created through collaboration between the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, IMF, and European Investment Bank (EIB). We call on the Task Force to continue refining this Framework over its multi-year work plan in order to regularly assess economic vulnerabilities and risks due to evolving pandemic threats, taking into account country-specific circumstances.” the resolution said

“We welcome the Report on Best Practices from Finance Health Institutional Arrangements during Covid-19 that will contribute towards joint finance-health sector readiness to support our response to future pandemics. We welcome the Report on Mapping Pandemic Response Financing Options and Gaps developed by the WHO and World Bank and look forward to further deliberations on how financing mechanisms could be optimized, better coordinated, and, when necessary, suitably enhanced to deploy the necessary financing quickly and efficiently, duly considering discussions in other global forums.”

The G20 nations welcomed the conclusion of the first call for proposals by the Pandemic Fund and look forward to the second Call for Proposals by the end of 2023, based on lessons learned from the first Call for Proposals.

“We highlight the importance of securing new donors and co-investment. We ask the Task Force to report back to Finance and Health Ministers in 2024 on its progress,” the resolution said.

MB Bureau