UK Covid live news: Johnson and world leaders say next pandemic is matter of 'not if, but when'

Latest updates: world leaders and WHO call for global treaty to enable nations to ‘predict, prevent, detect and respond to pandemics in coordinated fashion’

Good morning. In its integrated review of security, defence and foreign policy (pdf) published earlier this month, the government said it wanted to “move from defending the status quo within the post-Cold War international system to dynamically shaping the post-Covid order”. It was not clear exactly what that meant, but we get a better idea this morning with the publication of a joint article signed by Boris Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and 21 other world leaders, as well as Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, calling for a global treaty on on pandemic preparedness.

Here is my colleague Lucy Campbell’s overnight story about the initiative.

Related: Global treaty needed to protect states from pandemics, say world leaders

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. 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 ....

To that end, we believe that nations should work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. Such a renewed collective commitment would be a milestone in stepping up pandemic preparedness at the highest political level. It 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.

Related: Coronavirus live news: WHO to present China mission findings; Canada pauses AstraZeneca vaccine for under 55s

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Coronavirus | The Guardian

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