WHO Pushes International Treaty Against Future Pandemics

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that negotiations would soon begin with the 194 member states to draw up an international treaty to combat pandemics, which could be ready by May.

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This was stated by the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference. Tedros expressed his interest in the document, including at least three key points: sharing prevention and emergency measures, information on viruses and other causes of disease, and tools to combat epidemics, including medicines, vaccines, and tests.

"The world cannot afford to wait until the current pandemic is over to prepare for the next one," stressed the WHO Director-General, who recalled that the health crisis "has exposed failures in national, regional and global epidemic preparedness systems.

Present at the press conference was the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who supported the idea on behalf of the EU bloc and stressed that such a document "can improve prevention and response to future pandemics."

"The question is not whether there will be a next pandemic, but what it will be like. We must be ready for it, and we have no time to lose," Michel said, stressing that to improve future response, the transparency and accountability of the international emergency preparedness system must be improved.

The communiqué outlining this proposal was signed by 25 heads of state and government, including the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, his Italian counterpart, Mario Draghi, and the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

The statement was also signed by the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera; the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada; the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez; and the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Luís Santos da Costa.

Other signatories included the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel; the President of France, Emmanuel Macron; the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelenski.