Think 7 USA 2020: Report of the Think 7 Summit

Think 7, a group of high-level experts from all G7 member countries, met in May 2020 to make recommendations in the five key areas identified by the G7 presidency for the 2020 summit. The five key areas are: health, economic recovery, trade, energy and environment, and peace and security.

Dahdaleh Institute Director, Dr. James Orbinski, played a key role in creating the recommendations on health. Dr. Orbinski worked with other members of the Health Working Group, including:

Hugo Dobson, School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield
James Hospedales, EarthMedic; former executive director, Caribbean Public Health Agency
Ilona Kickbusch, Geneva Graduate Institute, Global Pandemic Monitoring Board
Chiara Oldani, University of Viterbo “La Tuscia”
Lord Jim O’Neill, Chatham House

Think 7 USA 2020 was held virtually on 14 and 15 May 2020. It was designed, organized and hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, with support from the G7 Research Group based at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Think 7 launched in 2018, and has since made annual recommendations as an independent, innovative, and influential contribution tightly tied to the G7 summit’s agenda priorities.

Originally planned for June 2020, this year's G7 summit was postponed. Members of Think 7 decided to nonetheless move forward with their work.

Recommendations: Global Health

1. We will support the most vulnerable and guarantee funding for Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ $6.7 billion call for the immediate global humanitarian response to COVID-19 in fragile countries.
2. We will make an initial, immediate commitment of $20 billion to vaccinate the world’s population as a global public good and will also support global scientific collaboration to accelerate the development, production, equitable and affordable access to new COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines (Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator).
3. We agree to lead by example and implement the seven urgent actions that will prepare the world for future health emergencies as set out by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, engage in proactive collaborative global leadership, and provide the necessary political support and funding to this end, work to improve and reform the system of pandemic and preparedness response and drive the global effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
4. We will strive to mitigate the catastrophic impacts of COVID-19 in the most vulnerable countries and populations by taking measures to slow and stop the spread through reliable monitoring and testing, a One Health approach, strengthened primary health care, and leveraging technology and digital health, while continuing our work to control anti-microbial resistance, ensuring human rights and working to meet our targets set in Sustainable Development Goal 3, including ending HIV/AIDS by 2030.
5. We will address the gendered dimensions of COVID-19, in particular the role of women healthcare workers and the recent spike in gender-based violence. Building on the work of the G7’s Gender Equality Advisory Council and the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, we will form a task-and-finish group to develop timely and effective measures to address the gender aspect of the pandemic, based on a multi-stakeholder approach that includes national governments, civil society and international institutions.

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