What would an international pandemic treaty look like?
World leaders make joint plea for global cooperation to tackle next major health crisis
Boris Johnson has teamed up with 23 other world leaders to call for a new global treaty to help the world prepare for future pandemics.
As the battle against Covid enters a second year, the British prime minister and counterparts including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel have issued a plea for a joint settlement like that forged after the Second World War.
In a statement published in The Telegraph, they say: “At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The aims were clear: to bring countries together, to dispel the temptations of isolationism and nationalism, and to address the challenges that could only be achieved together in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation - namely peace, prosperity, health and security.”
The call for stronger cross-border ties has also been published in other newspapers worldwide, including France’s Le Monde, Spain’s El Pais and Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and is being backed by World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The health boss and political leaders warn that another pandemic or global health crisis is a matter of “not if, but when”, adding: “The Covid-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe.”
The new treaty being proposed would be “rooted in the constitution of the World Health Organization”, while drawing in “other relevant organisations key to this endeavour”, and would support the principle of “health for all”, the statement continues. International health regulations and other “existing global health instruments” would underpin the treaty, ensuring “a firm and tested foundation on which we can build and improve”.
The main goal would be to “foster an all of government and all of society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics”. And achieving this aim would involve “greatly enhancing international cooperation” to improve alert systems, data-sharing and research, as well as the local, regional and global production of vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and personal protective equipment (PPE).
The new treaty would also champion a “One Health” approach that “connects the health of humans, animals and our planet”, the world leaders add, before arguing that “we must seize this opportunity and come together as a global community for peaceful cooperation that extends beyond this crisis”.
The publication of the statement comes in the wake of a series of disagreements between the UK and the EU over Covid vaccine supplies, with Brussels threatening to prevent jabs from being exported to countries outside the bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned earlier this month that Brussels had to ensure that Europe “gets its fair share” of the vaccines, and called on other nations to hand over more doses.
The minister overseeing the distribution of Covid jabs in the UK, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that making vaccines available to other countries “can happen once we have a surplus of vaccines here in the UK”.
“But obviously, we want to work in the spirit of cooperation as well, and when we do have surpluses we’ll be looking to export those, I’m sure,” he added.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 3, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - presidential pitching, wavering convictions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
What might a Trump victory mean for the global economy?
Today's Big Question A second term in office for the 'America First' administration would send shockwaves far beyond the United States' shores
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why might The Washington Post's nonendorsement matter more?
Today's Big Question The Jeff Bezos-owned publication's last-minute decision to rescind its presidential preference might not tip the electoral scales, but it could be a sign of ominous things to come
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Was Georgia's election stolen?
Today's Big Question The incumbent Georgian Dream party seized a majority in the disputed poll, defying predictions
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Will Elon Musk's million-dollar election scheme pay off?
Today's Big Question By offering a million bucks to prospective voters to sign his pro-Trump petition, the Tesla billionaire is playing a risky electoral game — and a potentially criminal one, too
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How would slavery reparations work?
Today's Big Question Caribbean nations lead call for 'meaningful' conversations on reparations at Commonwealth summit
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is legal weed a bipartisan issue now?
Today's Big Question Trump and Harris both favor legalization
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published