The Global Health Summit today in Rome was more a propaganda stunt for the EU and global multinational institutions than anything else.The event was co-sponsored by the Italian Presidency of the Group of 20, and the EU Commission. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen presided. The so-called “Rome Declaration” of principle was issued. It is a verbose five-page statement, full of commendable intentions such as “large-scale, global, safe, effective and equitable vaccination in combination with appropriate other public health measures remains our top priority,” or “achieving Universal Health Coverage with primary healthcare at its center,” which are modes of speech typically used by the EU to promote its supranational agenda.
Many heads of state and government spoke, including those of China, South Africa, Mexico, Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Rwanda, Singapore and others. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke for the U.S. Health experts from many nations and international organizations, such as World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke. Harris’s speech promoted the idea of a “Facilitator for Health Threats.” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for a “pandemic radar” system of detection points around the world.
Rising above this, President Xi Jinping presented a set of five principles, beginning with “people come first.” Lives must be saved. The virus must defeated.
The watchword of the day is that “there is a gap” in funding for anti-COVID-19 action, of $18.6 billion worldwide, e.g. of $6 billion for oxygen, and so on. Various pledges were announced by nations and agencies throughout the day.
In the final press conference by Draghi and von der Leyen, she proclaimed that “climate change, biodiversity and human activity are the breeding ground that brought the pandemic.” More than once she lauded the Rome Summit for being, for the first time, a multinational agreement on a “One Health” approach occurred.Though the decent-sounding phrase can have several meanings, von der Leyen means it in the Ultra-Green way that One Health refers to the combined condition of human, animal, plant, Earth and climate considerations, in which human lives do not come first. In fact, human activity must be cut back, because it has extended too far into the animal and plant world, and harms diversity, and breeds disease.
Von der Leyen boasted about the agreement with BioNTech Pfizer, J&J and Moderna to supply 1.3 billion vaccine doses to developing countries in 2021.
Journalists asked how can they guarantee that pledges and commitments are fulfilled, and von der Leyen and Draghi answered that since they have been publicly made, that is a guarantee. Text of the Rome Declaration: https://www.governo.it/sites/governo.it/files/documenti/documenti/Approfondimenti/GlobalHealthSummit/GlobalHealthSummit_RomeDeclaration.pdf
