23 World Leaders & WHO Back Idea to Form International Treaty to Handle Future Health Emergencies

COVID-19. Something we’re absolutely tired of hearing about, even more so than train breakdowns. And we know how grumpy we get over train breakdowns.

I mean, if we’re going to have to deal with a virus this long, we should’ve given it a more spicy name. No, I definitely do not mean the “Wuhan virus” or the “Chinese virus” as Trump dubbed it.

Then again, I don’t think the “Sovereign virus” or the “Toilet Paper Hoarder virus” really cuts it if it were to be put on a treaty.

A treaty? Yep, you heard that right.

Leaders of 23 countries and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have backed an idea to create an international treaty that would help the world deal with future health emergencies like the Sovereign virus (read: COVID-19).

On Tuesday (29 Mar), the idea received the formal backing of the leaders of Fiji, Portugal, Romania, 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.

Phew, that’s a lot of names! But if you’ve been perceptive enough (or if you’ve actually read through that whole list; in that case, I applaud you), you’d have notice that key world powers like the United States and China are currently not among the signatories though they have reacted positively to the idea.

The chairman of European Union leaders, Charles Michel, had suggested the formation of such a treaty during the G20 Summit in November 2020.

It would ensure universal and equitable access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for pandemics.

In a joint opinion article in major newspapers, the leaders noted that there will be other such major health crises in the future and that “[n]o single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone.”

Therefore, nations needed to “work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response.”

The main aims of the treaty would be to strengthen the world’s resilience to future pandemics through improved alert systems, data sharing, research, and the production and distribution of vaccines, medicines, diagnostics, and personal protective equipment.

WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a news conference that a treaty would help tackle the gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO had been criticised over its handling of the pandemic and accused by the Trump administration of helping China shield the extent of its outbreak.

The treaty would also emphasise that the health of humans, animals and the planet are all connected and should lead to shared responsibility, transparency and cooperation globally.

“We are convinced that it is our responsibility, as leaders of nations and international institutions, to ensure that the world learns the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the leaders wrote.

Dr Tedros has already endorsed the proposal of a treaty but formal negotiations have not yet begun. He added that a draft resolution on negotiations could be presented to the WHO’s 194 member states at their annual meeting in May.

Key Findings of Wuhan COVID-19 Probe

A WHO-China study on the origins of the virus Sars-CoV-2 was conducted last month and findings show that it had most likely originated in bats and was transmitted to humans via another animal.

Dr Peter Ben Embarek, head of the WHO-led mission, expressed that a leak from a laboratory was “extremely unlikely” and further research into this theory was not required.

However, some skeptics say that the section on the possibility of a lab leak lacked sufficient detail.

According to The Straits Times, the 124-page report that was officially released yesterday (30 Mar) covers how the investigators reached their conclusion, with four different hypotheses listed.

The scenario of the virus being contracted from bats via an intermediate animal was “likely to very likely” while a direct jump from bats to humans was “possible to likely”.

The team had examined other animal species that could have brought the virus into the city of Wuhan but no exact animal reservoir had been found.

Dr Embarek concluded that more studies needed to be done to pinpoint the virus’ origins. The WHO team gave indications for further lines of studies, such as:

• Studying how the virus can infect humans from frozen food products
• Tracing the supply chain of frozen animals present at the Huanan market, to identify a possible animal host for the virus
• Expanding the search globally to look for evidence of the circulation of COVID-19 before December 2019

However, Dr Tedros notes that data was withheld from WHO experts during the investigation and multiple countries have criticised the report.

The research was carried out by a team consisting of international and Chinese experts, but the U.S. government has raised questions over whether the experts convened by the WHO were given sufficient access to reach trustworthy conclusions.

Concern was expressed by the U.S. about the “methodology and process” of the report, with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken saying that the Chinese government was involved in the writing of the report.

There is much pressure on WHO and Dr Tedros for a more extensive and objective investigation.

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