“A Global Pandemic Treaty to Deliver Security for Us All”: A Virtual Press Conference 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET, May 18, 2021, Hosted by the GPHC Panel

Join members of the Panel for a Global Public Health Convention as they discuss the way forward on urgently needed reforms of the global public health architecture in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention (GPHC) will hold a virtual press conference at the Washington-based National Press Club to highlight gaps in the ongoing international debate about what a global pandemic treaty or convention should look like and what must be done to ensure robust compliance and buy-in among countries.

Founded in 2020, the Panel is an independent coalition of global leaders working to strengthen the world’s ability to prevent, prepare, and respond to pandemics. Its aim is to reform the global public health architecture by promulgating a new health treaty to avert and prepare for future pandemics.

• WHAT: Virtual press conference for A Global Pandemic Treaty to Deliver Security for Us All
• WHEN: 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET, Tuesday, May 18, 2021
• WHERE: Virtual platform of the US National Press Club
• WHO:
  • Dame Barbara Stocking, Chair, Panel for a Global Public Health Convention
  • Lawrence Gostin, Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University
  • Jane Halton, Board Chair, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation
  • Precious Matsoso, Director, Health Regulatory Science Platform, University of the Witwaterstrand-Johannesburg
• JOIN: Register here for the virtual press conference.

The Panel is chaired by Dame Barbara Stocking, President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge and former chief executive of Oxfam GB. The Panel consists of six high-level members and one observer, and its work is informed by an advisory group of global experts in a diverse range of disciplines, including public health, medicine, diplomacy, and economics.

The impetus for the creation of the Panel came from a research study titled “A Global Public Health Convention for the 21st Century”, which was published in the Lancet Public Health journal in May 2021. This study was conducted by the University of Miami with the support of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. After the research team gathered and analyzed input from 29 public health thought leaders, it distilled this information into a list of 10 recommendations on what must be done to reform the global public health system to avoid another disastrous pandemic.