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Transcript: Q and A with World
Bank Group President Jim Yong
Kim
September 19, 2014

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim
Q and A with Media
Sydney, Australia

Transcript

MODERATOR: Why don't you ask questions, and just identify from where you're from.


QUESTION: [Unclear] Sue Lannin from the ABC. Why did you ask, why did the world wait
so long to respond to Ebola? Are you disappointed it's taken so long?


DR. KIM: Well what we've learned is that this Ebola crisis today is unlike anything we’ve
seen before. Every single Ebola outbreak before has been in rural areas and we've been
able to move in and very quickly bring it under control. So already more people have died
as a result of this Ebola outbreak than all the Ebola outbreaks in history combined. Also, the
infections are growing at a very alarming rate and they're now - we now hear that the
number of people infected with Ebola is doubling every three weeks.


Now again, the good news is that if we get the kind of comprehensive response that I was
talking about earlier, we make sure that we can prevent all of these new - any new infection;
make sure that every single person has access to good quality care that includes
intravenous hydration, management of electrolytes. If we can do that, then we can really
stop it right now.


Now again, the thing I worry most about is if we don't have a response that's adequate and
really able to cover everybody, then this could get much, much worse. So this has surprised
everyone. None of us thought that Ebola could look like it's looking right now. But again, we
have a window of opportunity. We can stop this thing in its tracks, but everybody has to
move right now.

QUESTION: How long do you estimate is this window of opportunity?


DR. KIM: Well you know we feel like in order to avoid the worst effects, in the next four to
six months we really have to bring it under control.


QUESTION: Countries that have given money, do you think that they should send
personnel as well?


DR. KIM: Well I think that the countries that are sending personnel, we're very grateful. The
one - the most important thing though is that the World Health Organization has to come out
with a standardized approach to providing care, and they're doing it right now. In fact, I was
just on the phone in an airport lounge with the chief of the cabinet of the World Health
Organization and we were talking back and forth about what the elements and what it's
going to look like. I think within the next week you'll have a very clear algorithmic approach
to responding and once you have that and we put in place the things we need to train
anybody, I think that more personnel will be welcome.


Now the problem though is it can't be done helter skelter. It has to be done in an organized
way. Everyone has to learn what the procedures are. Everyone has to learn about how to
prevent the spread of infection. Then at that point, then I think it could work very, very well.
We're focusing though on making sure that health workers in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone
from those countries have all the training and tools that they need. That's really the first
priority.


QUESTION: Between Ebola and geopolitics, what do you think is the greatest risk to the
G20's growth target going ahead and what do countries need to do most urgently?


DR. KIM: Well you know, there's - I would say there's no one thing. So Ebola, if we don't get
it under control, if the response falls apart, then it really could be a risk for the entire world.
Certainly it will be a risk for West Africa if we don't get it under control. Now again, the good
news is, we have all the tools to get it under control so I'm optimistic that we'll do that.
The biggest risk to economic growth, there are several. There are lots of downside risks.
Especially the developing countries are very concerned about the removal of the
unconventional monetary policies of the United States. And that looks like it's going to start
happening sometime in the middle of next year, but Janet Yellen has been very clear with
communicating well ahead of time, and what we're saying is that especially for developing
countries, if they continue with structural reforms, they'll be able to prepare themselves for
the eventual unwinding of the unconventional monetary policies.

You know, I'm worried about future epidemics. One of the things that we have to do is think
about, if we had an influenza pandemic, if we had another SARS- like pandemic, would we
be ready? And I think we need to think about that.

Climate change is another issue that we have to be concerned about. When we think about
shocks to the global economy, we don't always think about pandemics or climate change,
but I think now we have to. We have to think about whether we're going to be prepared for
that.

QUESTION: Are you concerned that climate change…


QUESTION: How do you rate Ebola becoming a pandemic? You were talking about it
spreading to East Africa and beyond East Africa, beyond the African continent?


DR. KIM: Well you know in - Ebola in the form that it is now is relatively difficult to transmit.
There was an Ebola patient who came to the United States, but because every hospital in
the United States uses universal precautions, nobody else was infected. Now the concern
though of course is that the longer it stays in human beings and the more people get
infected, the more chance the virus has to mutate. This is the concern.
But that concern - again it's the same solution. The same solution is prevent new infections
and treat everyone who is sick. So as long as Ebola doesn't mutate and we get the
response out then I'm not very concerned, but we've got to move and we've got to move
now.

[Over speaking]

QUESTION: Who's going to manage (inaudible) who.


DR. KIM: Well the good news for me is that the Secretary General has really stepped up.
He's put together an outstanding team. That team is coordinating very closely with the
Americans, with the UK, with the French, with all the different groups that are involved,
coordinating with us very closely. For something like this, this is no longer just a health
emergency. It's a food security emergency. It's a security emergency. Because it's in -
because it has so many dimensions right now, it's entirely appropriate for the Secretary
General himself to be at the at the center of it and the fact that he's stepped up I think is
really important.


QUESTION: Are you concerned that climate change is not on the G20 agenda and the
Australian Treasurer has ruled it out?


DR. KIM: Well you know climate change is an extremely important issue for us at the World
Bank group and next week, there will be a climate summit. So I don't think that climate is
being ignored. The climate summit on the 23rd of this month is unprecedented, More than
125 heads of state will be getting together. They'll be making announcements about what
they're planning to do to combat climate change. We're going to be going into the meeting
and we think that there's been tremendous progress on issues like a price on carbon,
tremendous progress on the preservation of forests, on building cleaner, more livable cities.
So there's a lot going on in climate change and so I wouldn't say that the issue of climate
change is being ignored, not at all. It's just that right now the UN's taking the lead on it.

QUESTION: Do you have a comment on the shutdown in Sierra Leone in relation to the
Ebola, the shutdown in Sierra Leone. I think some people are staying in their homes…


DR. KIM: Yes. So I mentioned it earlier, but there - with every great outbreak, there are two
contagions. The one is of the actual virus. And then the other is the fear related to the virus.
So that's what - it's not just happening in Sierra Leone, it's happening everywhere. So the
mines have shut down. People have left their fields and so the impact on the economy is
enormous.


The only way things will get back to normal is if they feel that we're now competent at
preventing new infections and that no matter where you are, you can get effective treatment
for Ebola. So that's what has to happen and once we do that, we think that the people of
Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia will go back to work, will go back to their homes, go back
to their villages. That's what we need to do.

So if you look back at SARS for example. That was a terrible epidemic, 800 people died.
The cost was $40 billion, in terms of economic productivity. So already more than 800
people have died from Ebola and yet because it's spread so much more slowly, it's not yet
had like a $40 billion impact. But the whole point is that the only way to stop that second
contagion which is the fear that leads to the great economic losses and people staying in
their homes, is to get the treatment out.

You know, pay attention over the next week, week and a half, you should be seeing
announcements about very effective protocols that we're going to scale up everywhere.
Thank you very much.