Networking between nations important in fighting pandemics: German chancellor

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – Germany’s chancellor said Sunday that networking and cooperation are important across national boundaries in fighting such things as pandemics.

Olaf Scholz spoke at the opening of the World Health Summit in Berlin, which for the first time is being co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Networking matters. Cooperation matters across national boundaries between different scientific disciplines and between the realms of science, politics and society,” said Scholz.

The German chancellor also said that essential research matters.

“The fact (is) that Professor Christian Drosten, the director of the Institute of Virology here at the Charity Clinic in Berlin, developed the first successful virus test only a few weeks after the appearance of the coronavirus in Wuhan,” China, he said.

Scholz said the corona pandemic demonstrated how important exchanges are.

“Similar to other epidemics in recent years, it was probably caused by pathogens transmitted from animals to humans,” he said.

“And if our aim is to detect such epidemics at an earlier stage in the future -- or even better, to prevent them -- then we need to strive for much closer cooperation between different disciplines.”

- Global pandemic accord

Scholz said Germany supports the negotiation of an international pandemic treaty and amendments to international health regulations to enable the world to be better prepared when a health crisis occurs.

Among the central topics of the summit are climate change and health, pandemic preparedness, sustainable health systems, and the role of the G7 and G20 nations in global health.

More than 300 speakers from all regions of the world are expected, including 20 government representatives and ministers and representatives from academia, industry, civil society and international organizations.

The patrons of the summit are Chancellor Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and African Union chairperson and President of Senegal Macky Sall.

Tedros said that when the world needed to come together to face a common threat as one, the COVID-19 pandemic was “characterized by a lack of cooperation and coordination.”

“We can only face shared threats with a shared response based on a shared commitment to solidarity and equity.

“That is what the pandemic accord that countries are now negotiating is all about: an agreement between the nations of the world to work together – not in competition with each other – to prepare for and respond to epidemics and pandemics,” he added.

Tedros said that in 1968, at the height of the Cold War, countries across the ideological divide came together to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Today, it remains as relevant as ever,” he said.

“In the same way, the global accord now being negotiated will underpin the global approach to epidemics and pandemics for decades and maybe even centuries to come. That’s why we call it a generational agreement.”​​​​​​​