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GENEVA: Leaders from 23 countries and the World Health Organization on Tuesday (March 30) backed the development of an international treaty that would help deal with future health emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic by tightening rules on information sharing. .
The idea of such a treaty, which also aims to guarantee universal and equitable access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for pandemics, was raised by the president of the leaders of the European Union, Charles Michel, last November. .
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has endorsed the proposal, but formal negotiations have not started, diplomats say.
Tedros said at a press conference Tuesday that a treaty would address the gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A draft resolution on the negotiations could be presented to WHO’s 194 member states at their annual meeting in May, he said.
The WHO has been criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused by the administration of US President Donald Trump of helping China protect the scope of its outbreak, which the agency denies.
READ: Data withheld from the WHO team investigating the origins of COVID-19 in China: Tedros
A joint WHO-China study on the origins of the virus said it had likely been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal and that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely” as a cause. The data was withheld from WHO experts who went to China to investigate its origins, Tedros said.
The treaty proposal obtained the formal endorsement of the leaders of Fiji, Portugal, Romania, Great Britain, Rwanda, Kenya, France, Germany, Greece, Korea, Chile, Costa Rica, Albania, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, Tunisia , Senegal, Spain, Norway, Serbia, Indonesia, Ukraine and the WHO itself.
“There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No government or multilateral body can tackle this threat alone,” the leaders wrote in a joint opinion piece in major newspapers.
“We believe that nations should work together toward a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response.”
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The leaders of China and the United States did not sign the document, but Tedros said that both powers had reacted positively to the proposal and that all states would be represented in the talks.
White House spokeswoman Jan Psaki, speaking later at a regular press conference in Washington, said: “We have some concerns mainly about the timing of starting negotiations for a new treaty at this time.”
The negotiations could divert attention from substantive issues related to pandemic response and future preparedness, although the Biden administration remains open to international collaboration, he added.
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