Leaders join Charles Michel’s push for pandemic treaty

Calling for an “all-of-government and all-of-society approach” to address future health emergencies, 23 world leaders and the director-general of the World Health Organization have joined European Council President Charles Michel in signing an op-ed that outlines a potential new international treaty on pandemics.

Notably, the signers include U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government has been at odds with the EU over access to limited vaccine supplies. Michel recently challenged Johnson to disclose data on international exports of vaccine doses by U.K. manufacturers, effectively accusing London of selfishly hoarding doses for its own citizens.

The opinion column, to be published Tuesday in newspapers around the world, is the latest step in Michel’s effort to promote the idea of a new global health treaty as one outcome of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Among the other leaders who agreed to sign the article were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has slammed wealthy countries for not doing enough to help developing countries obtain vaccines.

According to Michel’s proposal, the new treaty would be developed within the framework of the World Health Organization, as well as existing protocols on global health cooperation like the International Health Regulations (IHR). Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, signed the op-ed, signaling the organization’s support.

Some officials have said that the existence of the IHR, a legally binding instrument of international law, makes another formal treaty on pandemics unnecessary. But Michel has insisted that a separate treaty would help formalize many aspects of future cooperation in managing pandemics, perhaps avoiding some of the current disputes over vaccine access.  

“The main goal of this treaty would be to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics,” the leaders wrote. “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.”

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