Introduction to the Rome Declaration.

Abstract

Background: The Global Health Summit was held in Rome on 21 May 2021, co-hosted by the European Commission and Italy, as chair of the G20. Leaders, heads of regional and international organizations met to share lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and to define the path ahead.

Objective: The present paper analyses the Rome Declaration as the first global health programme shared among the G20 Member States and based on the One-Health approach.

Methods: Documents such as preparatory work, official documents and observations from international organizations were analysed in order to provide a comprehensive review of the Rome Declaration.

Results: Core principles of the Rome Declarations have emerged as well as the goal to improve cooperation among existing international organisations and national authorities.

Conclusions: Governments' future decisions will be the key to determine the end of the pandemic. The interconnected impacts on health, the environment, and social and economic dimensions will be a central theme of the overall narrative aiming at bringing the G20 process towards achieving a more inclusive and sustainable society.