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After Ebola, World Bank Chief Proposes Global Insurance Program For Future Outbreaks

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES  by       Jan. 27, 2015

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim is proposing emerging nations, developed countries and global aid organizations participate in a kind of insurance system to help pay for health crises like West Africa's Ebola outbreak. “We need to prepare for future pandemics that could become far more deadly and infectious than we we have seen so far with Ebola,” Kim told an audience at Georgetown University on Tuesday. “We must learn the lessons from the Ebola outbreak because there is no doubt we will be faced with other pandemics in the years to come.”

 ...according to Kim, the recent outbreak could be just the beginning. And world leaders need a plan.  

He said World Bank officials informally discussed the possibility of a “pandemic response facility” with the World Health Organization, United Nations and other international actors last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“This could work like insurance policies that people understand, like fire insurance,” Kim said. “The more that you are prepared for a fire, such as having several smoke detectors in your home, the lower the premium you pay.”

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http://www.ibtimes.com/after-ebola-world-bank-chief-proposes-global-insurance-program-future-outbreaks-1796728

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bbc.com - January 27, 2015

The world is "dangerously unprepared" for future deadly pandemics like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the president of the World Bank has warned.

Jim Yong Kim, speaking in Washington, said it was vital that governments, corporations, aid agencies and insurance companies worked together to prepare for future outbreaks.

He said they needed to learn lessons from the Ebola crisis.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

      

American businessman Bill Gates speaks at a conference under the motto 'Reach every child' of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) in Berlin, Germany, 27 Janaury 2015. Bernd von Jutrczenka—AP

The Microsoft boss warns the Ebola crisis was just the beginning

time.com - January 28, 2015

Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, has cautioned that a technology-based action plan is needed to guard against future pandemics similar to how we “prepare ourselves for war.”

Gates, whose charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation disburses nearly $4 billion worldwide, urged the international community to apply lessons learned from the Ebola crisis to develop a plan for future outbreaks. One strategy would be to create volunteer teams able to respond quickly to a public health emergency, the Agence-France Presse reported.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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