By Asmau Ahmad
The Group of Major Industrialised Nations (G7) aims to join forces to end the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen healthcare systems worldwide to counter future outbreaks, according to a draft declaration leaders are expected to make.
The G7 summit of heads of state and government is scheduled to be in Cornwall, England, from Friday through Sunday.
The group consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the U.S., and the European Union’s (EU’s) high representative.
The group is set to pledge to “strengthen our collective defenses to better prevent, detect, and respond to, and recover from, future pandemics through effective multilateral action and a strengthened global health system,” according to the draft Carbis Bay Health Declaration seen on Thursday.
“We pledge to lead the way in building a resilient, integrated and inclusive global health system prepared and equipped to prevent the causes and escalation of disease, and to detect emerging health threats quickly,” the statement reads, adding that a “reformed” World Health Organisation (WHO) is to be at the centre of these plans.
“We will invest in our own human, animal and environmental health systems and in domestic preparedness to foster resilient populations. We will support vulnerable countries to do the same and encourage others to join us,” the declaration reads.
The leaders are also expected to pledge to champion an integrated and systems- based One Health approach across all aspects of pandemic prevention, preparedness, detection and response and work to foster a healthier planet.
The declaration also says that the leaders agree to “further develop medium- and long-term global health financing mechanisms to leverage funding from a wide range of sources, including public, private, philanthropic, and international financial institution funds, in order to facilitate recovery and build back better resilient, inclusive, and sustainable health systems.”
