Pandemic accord: 40 former heads of state plead for progress

More than 40 former heads of state and leading global health advocates have urged world leaders not to waste a unique opportunity to save millions of lives as negotiations stall on a new global pandemic accord.1In an open letter, published four years after the World Health Organization declared covid-19 a global health emergency, the 40 influential figures warned that the world’s leaders were looking increasingly unlikely to agree on a new, legally binding agreement intended to prevent and prepare for a future pandemic.2“Four years since it was declared a global emergency, covid-19 continues to add to the estimated 28.5 million excess deaths associated with the pandemic,” the letter said. “People and societies continue to suffer the long tail of its enormous social and economic toll. Overall, our world is facing a range of concurrent crises, including climate emergencies and deadly conflicts. Leaders have the power—and the responsibility—to ensure that another…
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