World Leaders call for international pandemic treaty

GENEVA: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, while addressing press on April 1, said that over 25 leaders from the G20, G7 and from every region have unanimously called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. Adding, he said that this voting is an acknowledgment and humility from leaders collectively, that the world was not prepared for the first coronavirus pandemic ever seen and that making head out of we must collectively do better in future outbreaks.

Tedros mentioned that the pandemic treaty would be a generational commitment to keeping the world safe in the future from new pathogens having pandemic potential. The world leaders this week had joined the call for a pandemic treaty, with goal to prepare the world for new pathogens with pandemic potential in the future. The new treaty will charter an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities, and resilience to future pandemics; and, would also be rooted in the WHO constitution and supported by existing global health instruments, especially the International Health Regulations.