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Why Is it Urgent to Reach an Agreement on Pandemics? A Proposal for a European Position
Series | All-Hazards Preparedness and Response
Authors: Laura Agúndez, Gonzalo Fanjul and Antoni Plasència
[ This document is one of a series of discussion notes addressing fundamental questions about global health. Its purpose is to transfer scientific knowledge into the public conversation and the decisionmaking process. These documents are based on the best information available and may be updated as new information comes to light. ]
21 March 2024 Photo: WHO / Pierre Albouy
The pandemic that swept our planet between 2020 and 2023 validated a hypothesis already indicated by the scientific evidence: that in the 21st century, in a profoundly interdependent planet, where people, animals and natural resources are all subject to accelerated variations in their habitats, it is no longer a question of whether we will be threatened by systemic health risks but rather when these will occur and the magnitude of their impact. The years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic saw several international alerts: SARS in 2003, avian flu in 2007, and MERS in 2012. Each one of these outbreaks was a wake-up call that we failed to heed. And all of the available evidence indicates that such events will become increasingly frequent in the future. Now that we know how devastating the personal and economic consequences of a pandemic can be, the question is what are we going to do about the problem? The
world’s political, social and scientific leaders have the obligation to do everything in their power to prevent the next pandemic—everything from strengthening health systems worldwide to redefining priorities in biomedical innovation and production. One of the key goals in this endeavour is to achieve universal commitment to the establishment of a multilateral regulatory and institutional framework. In spite of the existence of the International Health Regulations (IHR), the lack of shared rules designed to ensure the optimal and equitable use of resources, while recognising the rights and interests of all the parties involved, became a fundamental obstacle in the response to COVID-19. The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recently pointed out that despite the serious geopolitical differences that separate us, “this is the one thing the world agrees on”.
*Laura Agúndez is a resident doctor in Hospital Universitario La Paz specialising in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Gonzalo Fanjul is ISGlobal’s Director of Policy. Antoni Plasència is a distinguished fellow and former director general of ISGlobal. The authors thank Germán Velásquez for his valuable suggestions.
www.isglobal.org
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