For greater than two years, international locations of the world have labored collectively in direction of one historic and generational aim – to make sure we’re higher ready for the subsequent pandemic by studying classes from the devastation brought on by COVID-19.
At a time when conflicts, politics and economics have wrought destruction, discord and division, sovereign governments have discovered a solution to work collaboratively to forge a brand new international settlement to guard the world from inevitable future pandemic emergencies.
This important effort, being pushed by a whole bunch of negotiators tasked by over 190 nations, was launched in the course of essentially the most devastating occasion in our lifetimes.
Primarily based on official counts, COVID-19 left greater than 7 million lifeless. However the true demise toll is probably going a lot larger. The coronavirus pandemic additionally wiped billions, if not trillions, from the worldwide economic system. Social upheaval – from job losses to highschool closures – scarred communities worldwide.
On the peak of this catastrophe, with hospitals world wide crowded with sufferers being cared for by overstretched well being employees, greater than two dozen world leaders got here collectively to difficulty a worldwide name for unity.
They stated the world mustn’t ever once more be left so susceptible to a different pandemic. They concurred that governments mustn’t ever once more fail to cooperate in sharing important data, medical gear and medicines. And so they confused that by no means once more can the world’s poorest international locations and communities be left on the finish of the queue in relation to entry to life-saving instruments like vaccines.
Fairness, we stated then, and proceed to say now, should be our guiding mild.
What was wanted, the presidents and prime ministers stated then, was a historic compact that commits international locations to work collectively, throughout frontiers, recognising that lethal viruses don’t respect the borders, don’t see race, and don’t recognise wealth.
This spurred a choice, by the 194 Member States of the World Well being Group, to undertake two landmark, parallel efforts: to start out negotiating a first-ever pandemic settlement to stop, put together for and reply to pandemics, whereas on the similar time making a sequence of focused amendments to the prevailing Worldwide Well being Rules, the worldwide playbook which international locations use to detect, alert and reply to public well being emergencies.
These efforts had been launched throughout a time when social and political division and polarisation had been creating seemingly impenetrable limitations between many international locations.
However reasonably than succumb to geopolitical pressures, these government-led efforts have introduced nations collectively to make the world safer from the subsequent pandemic.
The outcomes of those important negotiations are scheduled to be thought of on the 77th World Well being Meeting that can open in Geneva on Might 27.
With the ending line so shut, the stakes going through the world have by no means been larger. Key points stay to be resolved, above all, how the pandemic settlement will guarantee fairness for all international locations in relation to making them prepared to stop or reply to the subsequent pandemic.
“Operationalising” fairness has been a daily chorus throughout the talks.
This entails guaranteeing international locations have assured real-time entry to the capacities wanted to guard their well being employees and communities from a pandemic risk, in order that we don’t see a repeat of the inequities in entry to vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, private protecting gear and different important instruments.
Operationalising fairness can also be about ensuring all international locations have robust well being methods which can be ready to answer future pandemics, wherever they could emerge.
World well being safety is determined by guaranteeing there are not any weak hyperlinks within the chain of defence in opposition to pathogens with pandemic potential. World well being fairness is vital to making sure that each hyperlink within the chain is powerful.
All of this requires collaboration between international locations to share what is required, from pathogens and diagnostics, to data and sources. And this may be secured provided that political management focuses on international cooperation, not slender nationalism.
The pandemic settlement supplies the inspiration on which to construct the world’s future collaborative method to stop the subsequent pandemic risk.
It’s not a chunk of paper. At its coronary heart, it’s a life-saving instrument that can set out how international locations will interact with one another to guard their populations, strengthen public well being and keep away from pointless disruptions to societies and economies.
At a time of such international friction and rigidity, I salute all efforts by the worldwide neighborhood to know this distinctive alternative to make the world safer from pandemics. The burden of this shared accountability is matched by the advantages {that a} robust settlement will present for the well being and safety of all.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
