Editorial
Global leaders unite in urgent call for international pandemic treaty
April 2021
Sheila Pantry OBE
25 heads of government and international agencies come together in extraordinary joint call. A New treaty would signal high-level political action needed to protect the world from future health crises.
The international community should work together “towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response” to build a more robust global health architecture that will protect future generations, world leaders said in a commentary published on 30 March 2021 in several newspapers around the world.
“There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone,” the leaders say in their article. “The question is not if, but when. Together, we must be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe.”
The main goal of a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response would be to foster a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to strengthen national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics. This is an opportunity for the world to come together as a global community for peaceful cooperation that extends beyond this crisis.
According to the article, the treaty “would be rooted in the constitution of the World Health Organisation, drawing in other relevant organisations key to this endeavour, in support of the principle of health for all. Existing global health instruments, especially the International Health Regulations, would underpin such a treaty, ensuring a firm and tested foundation on which we can build and improve.”
More information: https://www.who.int/news/item/30-03-2021-global-leaders-unite-in-urgent-call-for-international-pandemic-treaty
Essential tools to keep you up to date are OSHWORLD and OSH UPDATE + FIRE
So, this is where this website OSHWORLD and the electronic services OSH UPDATE + FIRE will help you and your organisation to keep up to date. These services continue to bring you the latest information on Covid-19 and the workplace, health, safety, environment, fire and other subjects such as use of robotics in the workplace that you will find useful in your daily work.
Look at the latest additions to the Diary of Events and you will see plans have been made already worldwide up to late 2021 to have online webinars and training courses, symposiums, and conferences in many places in the world on a wide range of subjects. Don’t forget to budget for these events – make sure that you and your colleagues are up to date with the very latest knowledge – remember that all workplaces and those working in them change, so continue to do your risk assessments.
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Remember that even if you cannot attend these many events, speakers and organisers are often willing to share their knowledge. Look at the details – where possible, we add in the web sites of these events so you can request further information. And do let me know if you are organising any events so that I can add them to the Diary.
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It is always good to review health, safety, chemical, fire and environment procedures on a regular basis. It is also important that the practices and systems in the workplace are constantly reviewed and if necessary, improved. This review may also indicate training requirements and updates and re-thinking how systems and services can be improved. This is where the free-of-charge OSHWORLD can help you.
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Are you hoping to have a zero accident, incident-free and healthy year in 2021 in your workplace? Some would argue that this is not possible! But keep on trying!
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