Exclusive | Coronavirus: global coordination needed to beat pandemic, former British prime minister Gordon Brown says
- ‘We do not want a chaotic approach to dealing with what is essentially a global health crisis and a global economic crisis,’ he says
- Brown was among the more than 200 signatories of an open letter to G20 leaders calling for financial support to beat Covid-19
“At the moment, nobody can actually say we are able to do whatever it takes, because to do whatever it takes it requires globally coordinated action, both in health and in economic action,” he said in an interview on Friday.
The void in global coordination was partly reflected in the problems seen in the procurement of medical equipment, Brown said. Rich countries had been snapping up supplies from major providers like China, leaving poorer countries more exposed to the coronavirus.
“I think it’s important that individual countries help each other where they can. I think China has been providing, for example, medical equipment to other countries,” Brown said.
“But it’s also important that there is global coordination. We don’t want ‘one world, two systems’, and we do not want a chaotic approach to dealing with what is essentially a global health crisis and a global economic crisis.
“It is important to recognise that even with the best will in the world from every single country acting individually or even bilaterally, you still need the global coordination that is essential to get on top of those problems to prevent a second wave, to prevent unnecessary deaths, [and] to get the economy back on the best footing possible,” Brown said.