Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in calling for a new global settlement to help the world prepare for future pandemics.
Leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel write in newspapers round the world that Covid has posed the biggest challenge since World War Two.
And the pandemic has shown that “nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.
Writing in different publications, the 24 world leaders say a treaty similar to that reached in the wake of World War Two is needed to build cross-border cooperation.
The signatories, who include the head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, say: “At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system.
“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 co-operation – namely peace, prosperity, health and security.”
The leaders say “in the same spirit, countries must now “be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly co-ordinated fashion”.
A new treaty would help establish better systems for alerting people about potential pandemics, while also improving the sharing of data and distribution of vaccines and personal protective equipment.
The letter adds: “At a time when Covid-19 has exploited our weaknesses and divisions, we must seize this opportunity and come together as a global community for peaceful co-operation that extends beyond this crisis”
BBC
