The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved another $2 million to assist developing countries in Asia and the Pacific in containing the COVID-19 outbreak, and improve resilience to this and other communicable diseases.
Earlier in February, ADB also provided $2 million in funds to strengthen the immediate response capacity in Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
“Over the longer term, this can be scaled up to focus on supporting pandemic preparedness and building resilience,” the multilateral agency said.
The ADB said in a statement Wednesday the latest funds will be available for all ADB developing member countries in updating and implementing their pandemic response plans, including buying emergency supplies and equipment; assessing health system and economic impacts to improve future resilience; and coordinating better regionally to prevent, detect, and respond to animal and human disease outbreaks.
The work will be conducted in close collaboration with the World Health Organization.