G7 leaders to sign Carbis Bay Declaration to prevent pandemic in 100 days. All you need to know
Under the Carbis Bay Declaration, the UK, which holds the presidency for the G7 Leaders’ Summit 2021, will establish a new centre to develop vaccines.
The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations are on Saturday expected to sign the ‘Carbis Bay Declaration’, a landmark global health declaration aimed at preventing future pandemics, according to a Downing Street statement. The UK government said the G7 leaders will commit to using all their resources to prevent a pandemic from ever happening again.
The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic has claimed more than 3.7 million lives so far, according to Johns Hopkins University, and caused economic devastation owing to the restrictions placed by governments around the world to contain the virus. Talking about the Carbis Bay Declaration, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said though the world developed and manufactured Covid-19 vaccines at an unprecedented pace, it needs to prevent a pandemic like this from ever happening again.
“That means learning lessons from the last 18 months and doing it differently next time around...I am proud that for the first time today the world’s leading democracies have come together to make sure that never again will we be caught unawares,” he said, according to Downing Street.
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G7 nations comprise the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan. The UK holds the presidency for G7 Leaders’ Summit 2021 and has invited India, along with Australia, South Korea and South Africa, as guest countries.
'100 days mission' of Carbis Bay Declaration
Under the Carbis Bay Declaration, the United Kingdom will establish a new centre to develop vaccines to prevent zoonotic diseases spreading from animals to humans.
On Saturday, Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser for the UK government, and Melinda French Gates, an American philanthropist, will join G7 countries and guests to present their ‘100 day mission’ to speed up the time it takes to develop vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Taking to Twitter, Vallance said that it’s an ambitious target but one which will save countless lives in the future.”
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The independent report titled ‘100 Days Mission to Respond to Future Pandemic Threats’ contains actionable recommendations on how governments and others can quickly respond to any future outbreaks, according to Downing Street. The UK government stressed that the first 100 days after the identification of an epidemic threat are “crucial to changing its course and, ideally, preventing it from becoming a pandemic.”
“We welcome the Carbis Bay Health Declaration, particularly as the world begins to recover and rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic. Together we need to build on the significant scientific and collaborative response to the Covid-19 pandemic and find common solutions to address many of the gaps identified,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organization.
G7 leaders have gathered at Carbis Bay, a seaside resort and village in Cornwall, UK, for the three-day summit. After G7 leaders sign the Carbis Bay Declaration, it will be published on Sunday alongside the G7 Summit Communique.