The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made a new plea on Thursday 6 May for a global approach to health to prepare for future pandemics through a sustainable global system, beyond the ad hoc solutions implemented this year for Covid-19.
In a speech by video conference to the European University Institute in Florence, she called for international cooperation ahead of the World Health Summit, which the Commission will organise with the G20 Presidency in Rome on 21 May (see EUROPE 12687/8).
“In Rome, we want to discuss international cooperation on health emergencies. Yes, preparedness comes at a cost. But the cost of preparedness is tiny compared to the cost of inaction. The world needs a new beginning in health policy. And our health Renaissance begins in Rome”, she said.
On the same day, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, again called for an international treaty on his Twitter account. “Multilateral cooperation is key. A pandemic treaty with WHO would be a powerful tool to bring vaccines to the global community”, he said.
At the G7 Foreign Affairs and Development Summit in London (4-5 May), EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen (who participated via video conference) reiterated the EU’s commitment to ensuring global and equitable access to vaccines, tests, and treatments, and its role as a driver of global immunisation efforts as the world’s largest exporter of Covid-19 vaccines.
In the final communiqué, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers expressed their support for the work of G7 Health Ministers and the ongoing efforts of the G7 to work with partners to improve pandemic preparedness and global health security.
They specified “WHO as the leading and coordinating authority to strengthen health systems, develop solutions that integrate the ‘One Health’ approach, tackle antimicrobial resistance, and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals”.
Welcoming the creation of the UN-backed (WHO, FAO, OIE and UNEP) High Level Expert Group on the ‘One Health’ approach, they confirmed that they “are determined to ensure that the lessons of the pandemic are learned and applied”.
The ministers said they look forward to the G20 summit on global health and to “further close cooperation on strengthening the global health architecture, including longer-term considerations such as exploring the potential value of a global health treaty, to strengthen global pandemic preparedness and response”.
See the press release: https://bit.ly/3h0Bdeq (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)