G7 health ministers simulate ‘leopard pox’ outbreak
How can governments combat the possible next pandemic? In order to be prepared, the health ministers of the G7 countries in Berlin apparently rehearsed the emergency – with a fictitious illness.
The health ministers of the seven leading industrialized countries (G7) will discuss the fight against global health crises in Berlin from Thursday. Future pandemics would have to be recognized more quickly and contained in closer coordination, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had made it clear in advance as the host.
According to “Bild”, the ministers want to play through a concrete scenario. The aim is to simulate a smallpox pandemic that was transmitted to a human through a leopard bite. The virus is said to have spread rapidly in 21 countries with a high death rate and many infected people in the hospitals. In contrast to the corona pandemic, for example, a particularly large number of young people are said to be affected by the disease. The health ministers are to discuss a “coordinated response” from the G7 countries during the simulation.
Another topic of the two-day meeting will be increasing health problems as a result of climate change. In addition, there is a stronger fight against antibiotic resistance, i.e. that antibiotics are no longer effective in treatments.
A joint meeting with the development ministers is also planned. This year, Germany is chairing the G7 group, which also includes the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan.
