Global accountability to prevent pandemics

The pandemic treaty is a must: Club de Madrid members call for urgent action

January 28, 2025

On the cusp of the next meeting of the INB, Club de Madrid together with the Panel remind WHO Member States of the urgent need to approve a Pandemic Treaty that has been pending for more than three years. 

A Pandemic Treaty and the creation of a Conference of the Parties is a task that all nations should endorse and support.

COVID-19 devastated the world.

Imagine if we could prevent future outbreaks from escalating into pandemics.

The only way to do it is for countries to work together and hold each other accountable. 

The modern world is interconnected, and infectious diseases easily cross borders. Though we cannot entirely prevent outbreaks, we can slow or stop pandemics before they kill millions – if we put in place a new way to respond together, as a global community.

We were unequipped to respond to COVID-19 because there was no global governance structure with the authority to monitor, inspect and hold actors accountable, and to coordinate the world response. As a result, countries did not follow existing legally binding International Health Regulations or emerging science-based public health recommendations.

We need fresh and independent thinking to get us to work together in a new way.

The time to act is now. Heads of state and government must negotiate and sign a treaty or convention to prevent the next pandemic – before it’s too late.

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic:

We consulted with global experts across borders and sectors to determine what a new global public health security convention would need to best prevent, prepare for and respond to infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics.

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