On Tuesday 30 March, about 30 policymakers co-signed a newspaper article calling for a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. Co-signatories among the EU27 include the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as the President of the European Council.
“The question is not ‘if’ there will be another pandemic, but ‘when’. There is no time to lose, we have to be ready”, said Charles Michel, president of the European Council, at a press conference.
The article explains that the treaty would promote a whole-government and whole-society approach in order to build national, regional and global capacity and resilience before future pandemics. “This includes a significant consolidation of international cooperation in order to improve warning systems, information sharing, research, and the local, regional and global production and distribution of medical supplies and public health interventions, such as vaccines, medicines, diagnostic products and personal protective equipment, for example”, says the article.
The treaty would be based on the One World, One Health principle, which links the health of humans, animals and our planet. It would be based on existing global legal instruments on health, particularly the International Health Regulations.
At a press conference, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, said that the number of signatories to the open letter was not indicative. “Not all 194 WHO members need to sign the appeal, but the next steps will be to involve all countries, as you would expect”, he said, adding he had received positive signals from China and the United States (which did not sign the article).
Ursula von der Leyen’s communication service stated that the President of the European Commission fully supported the ultimate goal of the open article. “There will be a contribution, in one form or another”, said Dana Spinant on behalf of the Commission, noting also that the Commission was co-hosting the global health summit on 21 May with Italy (which holds the presidency of the G20). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)