London, Mar 30 (FN Bureau) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron joined other 20 world leaders and the World Health Organization in calling for a new international treaty similar to those agreed after the two world wars to help countries face future health crises, warning that another pandemic is not a matter “of if, but when.” “There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone. The question is not if, but when. Together, we must be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe,” the joint statement said.
According to the signatories of the call, such renewed collective commitment would be a milestone in stepping up pandemic preparedness at the highest political level. “At a time when Covid-19 has exploited our weaknesses and divisions, we must seize this opportunity and come together as a global community for peaceful co-operation that extends beyond this crisis,” the statement published in newspapers across the world said. The text signed also by World Health Organization Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, claimed that the treaty’s main goal would be to foster an “all-of-government and all-of-society” approach to strengthen national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
“Pandemic preparedness needs global leadership for a global health system fit for this millennium. To make this commitment a reality, we must be guided by solidarity, fairness, transparency, inclusiveness and equity,” they said. Nearly 2,8 million people have died across the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 127,5 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in 192 countries since the virus was first discovered in China in December, 2019.