New international pandemic treaty: potential implications for clinicians worldwide

The advent of the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a broad interest in efforts to reform international health institutions. Central to this effort are calls for the creation of a new multilateral pandemic prevention treaty under the auspices of the United Nations or the WHO, with initial treaty talks slated for November.1 Such a treaty is intended to share information about new infectious diseases among member states, develop global pandemic surveillance and response capacity and more.2 If done correctly, such a treaty holds unique potential to help the world effectively detect and contain outbreaks of novel infectious diseases.1 2