The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the Italian Council and current President of the G20, Mario Draghi, want to include civil society in their vision of future global health management based on coordination and global cooperation, drawing from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic to better prepare for future ones.
This is evidenced by their speeches on Tuesday 20 April at the opening of an online civil society consultation event in preparation for the World Health Summit in Rome on 21 May.
Ms von der Leyen announced her intention to organise such a summit in her State of the Union address in September 2020 (see EUROPE 12561/1). This summit will result in the Rome Declaration establishing principles.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has killed 3 million people, caused the deepest contraction of economies since World War II”, Mr Draghi said in a video message.
He added, “Our contingency plans were not adequate, but we have demonstrated our ability to respond: scientists have developed effective vaccines, we have increased our vaccine production, our vaccination programmes are underway. But there is a need to support research, to strengthen global coordination and cooperation. This will require the mobilisation of governments, businesses, scientists and NGOs”.
Mr Draghi said he wanted the preparation of the summit to be an “inclusive process, to lay the foundations for the Rome Declaration”, namely strengthening health systems; improving response capacities at global, regional and country level; and accompanying this with solidarity and sustainable financing.
“We must cooperate, because no one will be safe until everyone is safe”, said Ms von der Leyen, echoing the slogan that emerged in May 2020 during the first vaccine fundraising marathon.
“Health is truly a global public good, which is why we decided to hold this summit”, she said.
It will be a question, according to her, of reflecting on how to prevent future pandemics, to be better prepared for them, “which requires international cooperation, that all countries have the necessary capacities to deal with future crises, and that resources be mobilised at the global level”.
Citing the European Union as an example, “with the HERA incubator to boost our production not only in Europe but also for the world, with the acceleration of research on vaccines and the acceleration of authorisation procedures”, she felt that “the same level of preparedness should be achieved at global level”.
Western countries, including EU countries, do not have the best record in the world in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, however.
A report outlining the findings of the consultation will feed into the preparation of the principles of the Rome Declaration. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)