Zelensky, along with other world leaders urge countries to sign International Pandemic Treaty
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, along with a number of leaders of other countries, called on the world community to sign the International Pandemic Treaty, which will help build a more robust international health architecture and solve the problem of isolating states from each other.
According to the communiqué on the treaty, released on the president's website on Tuesday, such a document will also allow humanity to prepare for the pandemics that await us in the future.
"No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone. The question is not if, but when. Together, we must be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe," according to the communiqué.
It also notes that its signatories are committed to ensuring universal and equitable access to safe, efficacious and affordable vaccines, medicines and diagnostics to combat this and future pandemics, as "immunization is a global public good and we will need to be able to develop, manufacture and deploy vaccines as quickly as possible."
"This is why the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) was set up in order to promote equal access to tests, treatments and vaccines and support health systems across the globe. ACT-A has delivered on many aspects but equitable access is not achieved yet. There is more we can do to promote global access," the world leaders said.
They also said nations should work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response.
"Such a renewed collective commitment would be a milestone in stepping up pandemic preparedness at the highest political level. It would be rooted in the constitution of the World Health Organization, drawing in other relevant organizations key to this endeavour, in support of the principle of health for all. Existing global health instruments, especially the International Health Regulations, would underpin such a treaty, ensuring a firm and tested foundation on which we can build and improve," according to the document.
It is noted that the main goal of this treaty would be foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
This includes greatly enhancing international cooperation to improve, for example, alert systems, data-sharing, research, and local, regional and global production and distribution of medical and public health counter measures, such as vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and personal protective equipment.
It would also include recognition of a "One Health" approach that connects the health of humans, animals and our planet. And such a treaty should lead to more mutual accountability and shared responsibility, transparency and cooperation within the international system and with its rules and norms.
"To achieve this, we will work with Heads of State and governments globally and all stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector. 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 officials said in the released communiqué.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky; Prime Minister of Great Britain Boris Johnson; Prime Minister of Portugal António Luís Santos da Costa; President of the European Council Charles Michel; Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez; Presidents of Serbia, South Africa, Tunisia, Indonesia and leaders several other states, as well as Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.