The World Bank Group has launched the much anticipated Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility (PEF) — a new financing mechanism to quickly mobilise funds to tackle global disease outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk. PEF is expected to bring the much needed coordination and speed for future global disease outbreak response efforts.

The PEF facility launch announcement came few days ahead of the May 26-27 Summit of Group of Seven Leaders in Ise-Shima, Japan. G7 leaders had urged the World Bank Group to develop the initiative during their May 2015 summit in Schloss-Elmau, Germany. Japan — which holds the G7 Presidency — became the first donor to the PEF initiative and committed $ 50 million.

The insurance component of the PEF will have an initial size of $500 million for a period of three years, and the cash window will likely be in the hundred million dollar range, although that number hasn’t yet been determined, according to Kim. Others agree there will still be a pandemic funding gap even after the new facility takes off.

According to Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank president, the Pandemic Emergency Facility will bring much needed coordination and speed to future global disease outbreak response efforts.