(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged her counterparts from leading industrialized countries to support the establishment of a new World Bank fund intended to prevent and prepare for future global health crises.

A new “financial intermediary fund” under the auspices of the World Bank would help address gaps in preparedness, particularly among low-income countries, Yellen said, according to prepared remarks she’s scheduled to deliver virtually on Thursday to a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from Group of 20 countries.

“We don’t see this as a pool of money that sits idly waiting to respond to the next pandemic,” Yellen said. “It will be used in the near term to incentivize countries to make investments to fill existing gaps in their ability -- and our collective capacity --  to prevent and prepare for the next crisis.”

Her remarks essentially endorsed a proposal made last year by a committee created by the G-20, known as the High Level Independent Panel, to study pandemic preparedness. The panel called for governments to commit at least $75 billion over the next five years to fighting pandemics.

Yellen was one of a number of finance ministers who decided not to attend in person the G-20 meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, because of a surge in infections from the Covid-19 omicron variant. Her remarks were part of an event focused on strengthening global health-related cooperation. 

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