G7 leaders expected to sign landmark declaration on health post COVID-19

London [UK], June 12 : The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) are expected to sign the landmark 'Carbis Bay Health Declaration' on Saturday, vowing to take steps to ensure that the global devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is never repeated, according to a Downing Street Statement.
According to the statement on Friday, the G7 leaders will commit to using all their resources to prevent a global pandemic from ever happening again. The Carbis Bay Declaration will be a historic statement setting out a series of concrete commitments to prevent any repeat of the human and economic devastation wreaked by COVID-19, reported CNN.
G7 countries and guests will be joined by the UK's chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance and Melinda French Gates who will present their "100-day mission" to speed up the time it takes to develop vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.
On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "In the last year the world has developed several effective coronavirus vaccines, licensed and manufactured them at pace and is now getting them into the arms of the people who need them. But to truly defeat coronavirus and recover we need 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 added.
Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also welcomed the Carbis Bay Declaration, laying an emphasis on the world beginning 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. To this end WHO welcomes and will take forward the UK's proposal for a Global Pandemic Radar. As we discussed, the world needs a stronger global surveillance system to detect new epidemic and pandemic risks," CNN quoted Ghebreyesus' statement.
The Group of Seven (G7) summit began formally on Friday as the leaders of the world's most advanced economies gathered on the Cornish coast for the first time since the outbreak of global coronavirus pandemic.
The 95-year-old Queen, the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the reception at the Eden Project, a famous visitor attraction located in a reclaimed china clay pit.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be participating today in the outreach sessions of the UK-hosted G7 virtual summit in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
The UK is the current G7 President. This is the 7th time UK is heading the G7. The theme selected by the UK for its G7 Presidency is 'Build Back Better' in a nod to global recovery efforts post-COVID-19 pandemic.