Boris Johnson joins Global leaders calling for new treaty to deal ‘with next health crisis’

Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in calling for a ‘new global settlement’ to help the world prepare for future pandemics.

Leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel write in newspapers round the world that Covid has posed the biggest challenge since World War Two.

The signatories state that another pandemic or health crisis is a matter of “not if, but when” and that “nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph and publications such as Le Monde in France and El Pais in Spain, the 24 leaders argue that a treaty similar to that reached in the wake of World War Two is needed to build cross-border cooperation.

The signatories, who include the controversial head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, say:

“At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system.

The aims were clear: To bring countries together, to dispel the temptations of isolationism and nationalism, and to address the challenges that could only be achieved together in the spirit of solidarity and co-operation – namely peace, prosperity, health and security.

We must now be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly co-ordinated fashion.

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 Covid-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe.

At a time when Covid-19 has exploited our weaknesses and divisions, we must seize this opportunity and come together as a global community for peaceful co-operation that extends beyond this crisis.”