Global leaders have called for a new treaty to help the world prepare for future pandemics, in a warning against rising vaccine nationalism.
The CNN reports that more than 20 national leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Germany’s Angela Merkel, in a statement on Tuesday call for greater international co-operation and say countries should avoid isolationism and nationalism.
“There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone. The question is not if, but when,” the statement said.
The stark warning comes as countries and trade blocs continue to clash over vaccine supply. Some of those who signed the letter have been involved in recent sniping over vaccine shipments.
The European Union and the UK are in a long-running war of words over drugmaker AstraZeneca’s contracts to supply its shot, while some EU member states have repeatedly expressed their frustration with the bloc’s stuttering vaccine rollout.
But the group which signed Tuesday’s statement struck a markedly different tone, stressing that unity and co-ordination was key for future pandemics.
