•Says economies contracted by 4.3% in 2020 due to COVID-19
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The World Bank has said it is far cheaper to invest resources and energies to reduce risks of emerging infectious diseases and prevent future global pandemics.
In a report released yesterday in Washington, United States, Workd Bank stated, “that prevention costs guided by a One Health approach – which would sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals, and ecosystems – would range from $10.3 billion to $11.5 billion per year, compared to the cost of managing pandemics which, according to the recent estimate by the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce, amounts to about $30.1 billion per year.”
When compared to the cost of managing pandemics, the World Bank said the recent estimate by the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce, put it at about $30.1 billion per year.
According to the Work Bank, there was chronic underinvestment in prevention which required action by countries to reverse the trend.
The report warned that the pace of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks has increased to several hundred per year since 2000.
“As the world continues to deal with the devastating effects of COVID-19, the World Bank is today releasing a new report that proposes actionable solutions to end the cycle of devastating pandemics.
“The pace of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks has increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent from 1980 onwards and the number of outbreaks has grown to several hundred per year since 2000.
“This is largely due to humans extending their global footprint, altering natural habitats, and accelerating the spillover of animal microbes into human populations,” it said.
While weighing in on the causes of pandemics, the report stated: “75 percent of EIDs and almost all known pandemics result from increased contact between animals and people, causing more than one billion human infections and one million deaths each year.”
It also attributed infectious disease spread to the increasing movement of goods and people around the world.
The World Bank further said, “in trying to put pandemics behind us by investing in one health to reduce risks of emerging infectious diseases, policymakers, governments, and the international community are encouraged to invest in pandemic prevention and to move away from the business-as-usual approach based on containment and control after a disease has emerged.”
The report estimated that prevention costs guided by a One Health approach – which would sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals, and ecosystems – would range from $10.3 billion to $11.5 billion per year, compared to the cost of managing pandemics which, according to the recent estimate by the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce, amounts to about $30.1 billion per year.
While commenting on the report titled: “Prevention is better than cure, World Bank Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnership, Mari Pangestu, noted that COVID-19 has shown that a pandemic risk anywhere becomes a pandemic risk everywhere.
He said the economic case for One Health was powerful, adding that the cost of prevention was extremely modest compared to the cost of managing and responding to pandemics.
“Prevention costs are only about a third of the cost of preparedness, and less than 1 percent of the cost of COVID-19 in 2020 – when the global economy contracted by 4.3 per cent or about $3.6 trillion worth of goods, services and other output lost, and the public health response.
“Ultimately, prevention is a global public good: no country can be excluded from benefiting and there is no limit to how many countries can benefit.
“Unfortunately, there is chronic underinvestment in prevention and countries must take action. In addition, when prevention is successful, the benefits are invisible and do not manifest as crises that demand immediate attention. One Health is the global approach required to break this cycle of panic, neglect, and under-investment,” he said.
In addition, Pangestu said successful implementation of the One Health initiative would require improved coordination, communication, and collaboration between sectors reinforced by capacity building.
He said what it meant was managing trade-offs between development and holistic health objectives, and sharing costs more equitably through global coordination of policy and financing actions.
“Investing in One Health is an investment in humanity’s future. The framework is holistic and helps governments, international organisations and donors direct financial resources to optimise scarce funding resources and prevent pandemics.
“One Health actions to prevent disease outbreaks are cost-effective, with an estimated annual rate of return of up to 86 percent.
“Now is the time to mainstream One-Health, leave the cycle of panic and neglect behind us, and put the notion that prevention is better than the cure into reality,” he said.
