The World Bank has rolled out a new Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (FIF) in an improbable and harmful timetable. Backing of the fund by the Biden administration as part of its strategy to strengthen health security and prepare for biothreats only accelerated the speed.
As a physician, human rights advocate, and global health equity expert, I can unequivocally state that the formation of this new fund, christened as The Pandemic Fund in early November, is fundamentally backward. However well-intentioned it may be, the speed, approach, and structure raise more concerns than solutions.