What is needed to protect the world from the threat of infectious diseases and achieve a healthier future for people around the world? On September 21, Prime Minister Kishida gave opening remarks at the G7 Health Follow-up Side Event, which was held on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, JICA President Tanaka also took the stage. President Tanaka made a strong appeal for the international community to cooperate to achieve equitable access to vaccines and other essential medicines, the establishment of a new yen loan system to support countries’ efforts to strengthen their systems, and JICA’s participation in the Impact Investment Initiative for Global Health. JICA’s participation in the Impact Investment Initiative for Global Health.
On September 21, President Tanaka spoke at the G7 Health Follow-up Side Event held in New York on the occasion of the UN General Assembly.
Global Movements in Light of the Pandemic
The outbreak of novel coronavirus infection at the end of 2020 caused enormous health damage, infecting approximately 800 million people worldwide and killing 7 million (WHO, as of September 6, 2023). The social and economic damage has been immeasurable, including restrictions on activities to prevent infection, resulting in reduced healthcare services, school closures, and stagnation of economic activities.
At the same time, the outbreak of the new coronavirus has exposed many inequalities in society, including differences in mortality rates by race and area of residence, differences in suicide rates between men and women, and differences in income loss rates by occupation and employment status. One of the inequalities that the new coronavirus disease has exposed is the inequality among nations regarding access to essential medicines such as vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments in a global health crisis. According to the WHO, the vaccine coverage will begin at the end of 2020, and the number of people who will receive the vaccine will be reduced to a few hundred by the end of 2030. According to WHO, after vaccination began at the end of 2020, 70% of the population in high-income countries had been vaccinated by December 2021, while in low-income countries, only 10% had been vaccinated by March 2022.
International cooperation to correct inequalities in health crises and to strengthen prevention, preparedness, and response to health crises worldwide is being discussed in various forums of international diplomacy. For example, at the World Health Assembly, rules for countries to cooperate in addressing health crises are being formulated, and discussions are underway with a view to reaching a conclusion by 2024. In addition, based on discussions at the G20 and other forums, the World Bank has established a pandemic fund to support governments of developing countries that have difficulty meeting their financial burdens.
Agreement at the G7 Hiroshima Summit
Global health was intensively discussed as one of the major issues at the G7 Hiroshima Summit, which Japan chaired, and three major agreements were reached under Japan’s lead.
The first is to strengthen mechanisms and organizations (global health architecture) to address global health issues. It is not easy for developing countries to sustainably secure funds in advance for health crisis prevention and preparedness, as well as to meet the enormous financial needs that arise in the event of a crisis. Therefore, in addition to the World Bank’s Pandemic Fund, which focuses on health crisis prevention and preparedness, a surge financing mechanism that can provide funds quickly in the event of a health crisis (surge financing) is needed to address these issues through a combination of domestic fund mobilization by countries, strengthening existing international frameworks, and creating a new international fund mobilization framework. The direction of the project was indicated to work on the following three areas.
Second, a global plan was formulated as a pathway for the G7 to work together to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), that is, to ensure that all people have access to adequate quality health care services, as needed, without suffering financial hardship. Furthermore, since it is difficult to secure the necessary financial resources to achieve UHC through public funds alone, the Triple I (Impact Investment Initiative) for Global Health was announced. A framework for expanding private investment, including impact investment, to secure financial resources was approved.
The third point is the establishment of a mechanism to ensure that the fruits of innovation in the healthcare sector are equitably distributed to those who need them around the world. In particular, it was agreed to establish a “Delivery Partnership on MCM,” a framework for equitable delivery of essential medicines such as vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, and infection control materials to people in low- and middle-income countries during health crises.
In addition, Prime Minister Kishida announced that Japan will contribute $7.5 billion in public and private sector funds to global health from 2022 to 2025.
Statement at UN General Assembly side event
The promotion of international collaboration for global health has continued in the international arena since then. In conjunction with the UN General Assembly, the Japanese government held a side event at the UN High-Level Meeting on September 21, inviting heads of state and heads of international organizations. Discussions focused on achieving equitable access to essential medicines and promoting impact investment for UHC.
Prime Minister Kishida took the stage at the opening of the event and announced that Japan has established a new menu of financial cooperation to help prevent and strengthen preparedness for health crises, as well as to support rapid response to health crises when they do occur. In addition, the official launch of the “Triple I for Global Health” was declared.
At a subsequent event, JICA President Tanaka pointed out three areas in which the international community should cooperate to achieve equitable access to essential medicines: a coordinated response based on rapid sharing of needs on the ground; rapid and large-scale mobilization of funds when a health crisis occurs; and strengthening national and regional response capacity during normal times. In particular, the need to mobilize funds in the event of a health crisis. With regard to the mobilization of funds in the event of a health crisis, he introduced the emergency yen loan of more than 650 billion yen for the fight against new coronavirus infection and the establishment of a new loan scheme, the Public Health Crisis Stand-By Loan (Note), in response to Prime Minister Kishida’s remarks. He also mentioned the need to strengthen the ability to respond to health crises even in times of peace, based on the experience of past cooperation, and introduced the establishment of a results-linked loan scheme to support the efforts of each country. He also announced JICA’s participation as a founding member of the “Triple I for Global Health” mentioned above.
(Note) The loan facility is provided in advance of a crisis to enable developing country governments to respond flexibly when a crisis occurs, on the premise that they will work to prevent and prepare for public health crises.
There has been a movement toward cooperation, especially among the G7 development finance institutions, to strengthen the mechanism for providing funds in the event of a health crisis. A joint statement was released on September 20 by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), which included a commitment for development finance institutions to work together to explore ways to provide rapid financing in the event of a health crisis.
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Japan has contributed to global solidarity in tackling the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus by providing the largest ODA among the G7 countries (2020-21, OECD statistics); JICA launched the JICA Global Health Initiative, which has contributed to prevention through vaccine dissemination and hygiene actions, testing JICA has not only contributed to the strengthening of prevention through vaccine dissemination and hygiene actions, vigilance through the expansion of systems, and treatment through the expansion of medical systems, but has also contributed to socioeconomic stability through the provision of emergency yen loans and other measures. We have also engaged in dialogue not only with our partners in low- and middle-income countries, but also with Japanese pharmaceutical companies, research and development institutions, research funding agencies, regulatory approval bodies, and civil society organizations in order to ensure the rapid development and dissemination of essential medicines. We have also cooperated with the government in the launch of the Triple I for Global Health, a framework for equitable provision of essential medicines, by participating in study groups of domestic stakeholders and intergovernmental consultations from the preparatory stage in our capacity as an implementing agency.
Infectious diseases are not just a fire on the other side of the river, and in the event of a global pandemic, if everyone in the world is not safe, no one is safe. To restore confidence in international solidarity, to protect Japan and the world from the threat of infectious diseases, and to ensure that everyone in the world has access to the quality healthcare services they need at a cost they can afford, JICA will work more closely with governments and specialized agencies in low- and middle-income countries, other development assistance and development finance organizations, private companies, and civil society organizations. JICA will continue to work hand in hand with governments and specialized agencies in low- and middle-income countries, other development assistance and financial institutions, private companies, and civil society organizations.
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