WHO chief welcomes EU Council proposal for pandemic preparedness treaty

[January 20, 2021]  GENEVA (Reuters) - World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday welcomed a proposal by the European Council to negotiate a global treaty on pandemic preparedness, noting it would be the second such treaty after a tobacco pact of 2003.

Tedros, addressing the WHO's Executive Board, referred to the proposal made by European Union Council President Charles Michel in December and said: "As you know we have the Tobacco Convention and if we can make this happen, this would be the second Convention or the second treaty and for a very important area, pandemic preparedness and response.

"All of us have seen how unprecedented this pandemic is, and we have to give it our best. And I think a treaty is the best thing that we can do that can that (bring) the political commitment of member states," Tedros added.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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