Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is
an extract from Finextra's The Future of ESGTech 2022 report.
Focus Target 3.c: Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States.
After two years, the UN noted that the pandemic has slowed down, and in some cases reversed its progress towards Goal 3, with 90% of countries reporting disruptions in one or more essential health service. Additionally, due to incomplete data, the full toll
of the pandemic is yet to be understood.Most non-development banks have limited the number of SDGs they wish to support, picking just a few out of the 17 that they see as within their remit, and Goal 3 is often excluded.
Although SDGs were not the driving force behind pandemic investments, or mentioned directly, many institutional banks also contributed to both vaccine development and distribution. For example,
AIB pledged €2.4 million to dedicated Covid-19 Research Hub in April 2020,
Mastercard-sponsored therapeutics accelerator awarded $20 million grants for Covid-19 research, and
Commonwealth Bank opened dedicated vaccination centres.
BNP Paribas also acted as joint lead manager in the issue of the €1 billion bond developed by the Nordic Investment Banking response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For development banks there was a necessity to increase their healthcare funding during the pandemic. The
World Bank established its Covid-19 Fast Track Facility in April 2020, initially across 25 countries costing $1.9 billion. This has since been expanded to nearly 100 countries and has largely contributed to additional vaccine funding.
In addition to this, the
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) developed a Covid-19 Crisis Recovery facility as part of its response for its members during the pandemic. This facility was aimed at mitigating economic, financial, and public health pressures arising from Covid-19.
This included help with more immediate health sector needs, as well as more long-term development of a sustainable health sector. Additionally, the AIIB acknowledges in its 2021
sustainable bond framework, that while much of this investment is not directly into SDG 3, the infrastructure it aims to build will directly or indirectly aid this goal.
Outside of direct Covid responses, development banks contribute to this goal in other ways. The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) allocated $20.3 million in technical assistance to help its developing member countries access the vaccines and establish systems to enable equitable and efficient vaccine distribution. However, it also continued other health
related work. For example, in Bhutan, the ADB established its ‘Health Sector Development Program’, which aims to “establish five satellite clinics on the outskirts of urban areas, upgrade primary health care facilities, provide medical equipment, improve quality
assurance, and promote healthy behaviour changes.”
There are some fintechs aiding in the achievement of this goal. Policy Street is a Malaysian based insurtech which aims at making insurance, including medical insurance, is more convenient and accessible. An Indian equivalent of this is Policy Bazaar.
In the US, crowdfunding for medical costs has become a common occurrence, but there are some fintech which aim to meet this specific need internationally. Hifazat Care is an Indian fintech which deals works with a number of medical needs including medical
insurance, but also provides a platform for medical crowdfunding.
ACTION FOR 2022: Ensure data on all health issues is captured to bridge the gap that prevents adequate preparedness.