A group of more than 100 global leaders has called for governments to reach agreement on an international deal to prepare for and prevent future pandemics, saying, in an open letter, that the decision is critical for their collective future.
The signatories, from all continents and fields of politics, economics and health management, are appealing to international negotiators for a Pandemic Accord, under the Constitution of the World Health Organisation.
The leaders wrote that this was “critical to safeguard our collective future”.
“Only a strong global pact on pandemics can protect future generations from a repeat of the Covid-19 crisis, which led to millions of deaths and caused widespread social and economic devastation, owing not least to insufficient international collaboration,” they said.
After the Covid-19 disaster which, officially claimed 7m lives and wiped $2trn from the world economy, inter-governmental negotiations to reach international agreement on future pandemic non-proliferation were begun in December 2021 between 194 of the world’s 196 nations.
They set themselves the deadline of May 2024.
WHO reports that the Ninth round of Pandemic Accord negotiations began last week and continue this week.
The writers of the letter hope their combined influence will encourage all of the nations to maintain the courage of their Covid-years conviction and make their collective ambition of an international pandemic protocol a reality by the intended May deadline to enable ratification by the World Health Assembly at its May 2024 Annual General Assembly.
They urge negotiators “to redouble their efforts” to meet the deadline and not let their efforts be blown off course by malicious misinformation campaigning against the WHO, which would be tasked with implementing the new accord.
The letter, hosted on the website of The Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown, states: “Countries are doing this not because of some dictum from the WHO – like the negotiations, participation in any instrument would be entirely voluntary – but because they need what the accord can and must offer. A pandemic accord would deliver vast and universally shared benefits, including greater capacity to detect new and dangerous pathogens, access to information about pathogens detected elsewhere in the world, and timely and equitable delivery of tests, treatments, vaccines, and other lifesaving tools.
“A new pandemic threat will emerge; there is no excuse not to be ready for it. … There is no time to waste.”
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