An official ceremony was held in Astana with the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan, Mikael Friberg-Storey, Executive Director of the Pandemic Fund, Priya Basu, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Skender Sila, and representatives of diplomatic missions in attandance, according to the press service of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan.
Recently the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan and the WHO signed an agreement for a grant of $46 million. The terms provide Kazakhstan with a country grant in the amount of $19 million, and multi-country grant in the amount of $27 million for three years.
Aside from Kazakhstan, 35 countries of the WHO European Region received grant funding for the development of medicines and healthcare systems. In total, according to the World Bank, the Pandemic Control Fund received 179 applications from 133 countries around the world. About 30% of the grant funds went to projects from countries in Africa.
The specialized agency said that this money will be used to improve the healthcare system in Kazakhstan, namely the development of epidemiological surveillance, laboratory security, border control, early detection, and response and training of medical personnel.
The WHO’s country office in Astana will oversee the implementation of the grant in Kazakhstan and provide general technical support to the Ministry of Health.
The Pandemic Fund was established in September 2022. It’s considered to be the first multilateral financing mechanism to provide long-term, grant-based financial assistance to low- and middle-income countries to improve their preparedness for future pandemics. By the middle of last year, the fund had raised $2 billion in seed capital from 25 nations and philanthropic organizations.
