The IMF and the World Health Organization on Friday urged leaders of developing countries to prioritize paying medical staff, buying protective gear and other health expenditures in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a joint column in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, the heads of the two institutions said getting the new coronavirus under control was a prerequisite to reviving the global economy, and it was critical to strike the right balance in spending emergency aid.

“Our joint appeal to policymakers, especially in emerging market and developing economies, is to recognise that protecting public health and putting people back to work go hand-in-hand,” wrote International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“As financing to support severely constrained public budgets reaches the countries in need, our joint plea is to place health expenditures at the top of the priority list,” they said.

The IMF and WHO leaders also underscored their joint call with the World Bank for debt relief for the poorest countries, a step that has not yet been backed by the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.

More than 1 million people have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and more than 53,000 have died, a Reuters tally showed on Friday.