U.S. and China Not Present on Global Pandemic Treaty

 As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world and infect countries, several global leaders have created a letter to push better tactics into improving global health admist the pandemic. This treaty included need for more cooperation and transparency about the pandemic internationally. The letter discussed topics such as future pandemics, working together globally for transparency of things such as numbers of cases and deaths, and a need for countries to prepare a better system to handle this pandemic as well as ones that may arise for future generations. This treaty had the support of several global leaders, with over 20 signatures and publications in those countries. However, two of the biggest global powers, the United States and China, were missing signatures on the treaty. This doesn't really come as a surprise, as the US and China have been quite controversial and secretive in their pandemic response. Both countries have been accused of falsifying case numbers and death numbers, and the US has been said on numerous occasions to be improperly handling the pandemic. Although the WHO said this week that all major states would be on the treaty when the time comes, it's unclear as to if the US and China will hop on board, given their differences in pandemic response compared to other developed countries. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/global-pandemic-treaty-world-leaders-call-for-more-cooperation.html

Kaitlyn Colvin