G-7 leaders outline pact to prevent another pandemic

Commitments include faster licensing of jabs and reinforcing global surveillance networks

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (centre) in Carbis Bay in the south-western English county of Cornwall on Friday, with (from left) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council president Charles Michel, US President Joe Biden, Japanes
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (centre) in Carbis Bay in the south-western English county of Cornwall on Friday, with (from left) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council president Charles Michel, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

CARBIS BAY (Britain) • Leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) rich nations were set yesterday to agree on a joint declaration aimed at preventing another pandemic, as they resume wide-ranging talks at their first in-person summit in almost two years.

The "Carbis Bay Declaration" - named after the seaside town in Cornwall, south-west England, where United States President Joe Biden and other leaders are meeting this weekend - comprises a series of health policy commitments.

The collective steps include slashing the time taken to develop and license vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days, while reinforcing global surveillance networks.

It will be formally published today, alongside the G-7's final communique.

"The #CarbisBayDeclaration marks a proud and historic moment for us all," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter, as he chaired the second day of the three-day summit.

"Under this agreement, the world's leading democracies will commit to preventing a global pandemic from ever happening again, ensuring the devastation caused by Covid-19 is never repeated," he said.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, criticised in some quarters for being too accommodating towards China, where the coronavirus was first detected, welcomed the health pact.

He also said the United Nations agency would examine a British proposal to create a "global pandemic radar" to send early warnings of future outbreaks.

"The world needs a stronger global surveillance system to detect new epidemic and pandemic risks," Dr Tedros said.

However, aid charity Oxfam said the declaration "does nothing to address the fundamental problems that are preventing vaccines being accessible to the vast majority of humanity".

The G-7 is expected to pledge to donate one billion vaccine doses to poor countries this year and next - although campaigners say the roll-out is much too slow to end the crisis sooner.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on June 13, 2021, with the headline G-7 leaders outline pact to prevent another pandemic. Subscribe