Fewer than three months from the emergence of a mysterious new virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global pandemic. By the start of April, half of the world’s population had gone into lockdown as countries sought to curb the virus’s spread and reduce the load on over-stretched health services. Modern life was turned upside down. Flights were grounded, borders sealed, and shops, workplaces and schools shuttered. Financial markets tumbled and major global events, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Dubai’s Expo 2020, were postponed.
The full long-term impact of Covid-19 is still unclear, but the virus represents the most significant global health event since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which claimed more than 50 million lives. Already, it has become the biggest economic and social disruptor since the Second World War, with the spread of the virus outpacing the global response.
Unlike recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa – which to many felt faraway and unrelatable – coronavirus has struck at the heart of the developed world. The proximity of this pandemic has brought disaster closer to all communities, regardless of wealth or geography.
But just as coronavirus is transforming how governments, businesses, and societies operate, it may also redefine the role philanthropy can play in dealing with mounting global threats.
Philanthropy, for the most part, has been a bit-player in campaigns against slower-burn global stressors such as climate change and pandemic response, both of which have historically attracted a fraction of giving. Yet, in a matter of weeks, it has shifted gears to become a frontline tool in the fight against Covid-19, with both donors and foundations announcing rapid-response funding to accelerate vaccine trials and help contain the spread of the virus.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, has committed more than $250m to fund public health agencies in the US, and boost detection and treatment support for at-risk populations in Africa and Asia. Its $2.5bn Strategic Investment Fund – with tools such as equity investments, loans, and volume guarantees – has been made available to low and middle-income countries to buy supplies, testing kits and protective gear for healthcare workers.
The foundation has also created a $125m fund with Wellcome and Mastercard to help speed the development of treatments for the virus, and remove barriers to drug development.
Swift donations have come too from Facebook, China’s Alibaba Group, Korea’s Samsung and Google, who are supporting medical research, as well as sending equipment such as masks, testing kits and ventilators to in-need communities in around the world.
