Webinar, Conference Presentation, Panel
Philanthropic Responses to COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific - Conference Call Series
Milken InstituteRichard Ditizio, Laurence Lien, Binod Chaudhary, Andrew Forrest, Cherie Nursalim, Rich D'Attizio
- Global philanthropic capital directed toward COVID-19 response has reached approximately $8 billion, representing an exponential increase over typical annual giving levels.
- The Milken Institute has pivoted all its centers to focus on the pandemic, categorizing efforts into medical interventions and financial stabilization.
- The Faster Cure Center is currently tracking 335 treatments and vaccines, with approximately a dozen already entered into human clinical trials at speeds previously unseen.
- Preliminary data from the Prostate Cancer Foundation suggests testosterone suppression therapies may be effective, as men face disproportionately higher death rates potentially linked to testosterone fueling lung cell invasion.
- Public health infrastructure gaps in Africa pose severe risks, with 115,000 reported cases and 3,400 deaths, though limited testing capabilities may mask the true scale of the virus.
- The US economy has experienced rapid disruption, with 39 million people unemployed, complicated by a decentralized, state-by-state response structure that limits containment measures.
- Australia and New Zealand have adopted distinct containment strategies; New Zealand implemented a full shutdown, while Australia maintained critical essential services to facilitate quicker economic recovery.
- Andrew Forrest's foundation in Australia deployed $100 million for PPE and $250 million for QPCR machines and 10 million tests, noting that modern slavery exploitation has increased due to the crisis.
- Nepal currently reports 900 cases with four deaths, though Binod Shrestha forecasts a rapid surge due to the repatriation of millions of migrant workers from India and neighboring regions.
- Nepal's response faces critical challenges, including the reliance on unreliable rapid testing kits, a lack of PCR facilities, and the logistical burden of quarantining returning migrants in converted school facilities.
- Lawrence Ho (Asia Philanthropy Circle) emphasizes that while the Singapore government allocated 20% of GDP to COVID-19 response, philanthropy must target innovation and long-term livelihoods rather than competing with government scale.
- G.T. Group in Indonesia has structured its response around three pillars: value creation (investing in mask-making machines), resilience (implementing safety protocols), and regeneration (digitizing business models).
- Shery Tan (G.T. Group) highlighted collaboration between former government ministers and tech platforms to support SMEs and cooperatives in e-commerce and digitization.
- The World Bank projects that 24 million people in Asia intended to be lifted out of poverty will remain in poverty, with an additional 11 million potentially newly impoverished.
- Experts warn that philanthropy must move beyond palliative relief to drive long-term institutional rebuilding, capacity building for businesses, and the recovery of global supply chains.
- Lawrence Ho advocates for "blended finance" mechanisms to crowd in private sector capital, citing Indonesia's launch of a $3 billion SDG infrastructure fund and a $1 billion women's fund.
- Panelists identified critical supply chain vulnerabilities regarding health workers, police, and food transport, urging for aggressive QPCR testing to maintain these essential lines.
- A proposed collaborative dashboard involving the ICC, Milken Institute, and others aims to map actionable solutions across countries, NGOs, and companies to accelerate response efficiency.
- Rich D'Attizio concluded with an optimistic outlook, citing unprecedented collaboration among former competitors in the pharmaceutical sector and a unified global pivot toward eradication and treatment.