Pretoria — South Africa is set to officially launch the Pandemic Fund later this week, a new financing mechanism designed to strengthen pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries.
The Department of Health, leading the project in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and UNICEF, will host the launch event on Thursday in Pretoria.
The fund, hosted by the World Bank, aims to provide catalytic funding to improve countries’ abilities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to future pandemics. 
Senior government officials from Health, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment will attend the event, alongside representatives from WHO, UNICEF, FAO, development partners, civil society, and the media.
The launch will include keynote speeches from national and international leaders, the presentation of South Africa’s implementation strategy for the fund, and a panel discussion focused on pandemic preparedness.
