Recommendation 12

The pandemic has highlighted the global nature of health security, and the need for greater international cooperation in this area. In an interconnected world, health security is inextricable from foreign policy. A cross-Government strategy on global health security is important to UK leadership in this area, and transparency is vital to ensure proper scrutiny. It is near-certain that there will be another pandemic in the coming years, and the Government should learn the lessons of covid-19 and use them to prepare for the next pandemic. This should not mean focusing on covid-19 to the exclusion of other health issues—strengthening health systems around the world is an important part of building resilience to new outbreaks. Global health security should not be allowed to slide down the agenda once covid-19 is under control in the UK. In its response to this report, the FCDO should update the Committee on the progress of this strategy. It should complete and publish its global health strategy by the end of